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FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 


BY 

ARTHUR  READE 

Lecturer  in  English  at  the  University 
of  Helsingfors 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1917 


Copyright,  1917 
By  Dodd,  Mead  and  Company,  Ihc. 


PEEFACE 

npHE  present  book  is  written  from  the  Stand- 
•*■  point  of  one  who  has  made  his  home  in  Fin- 
land, and  the  writer  hopes  that  what  he  may  have 
lost  in  the  freshness  of  first  impressions  may  prove 
to  be  more  than  counterbalanced  by  increased  inti- 
macy with  the  land  and  people  described. 

As  Finland,  in  spite  of  the  excellent  books  that 
have  been  written  by  thoughtful  and  observant  trav- 
ellers, is  still  but  little  known,  it  has  seemed  best 
to  concentrate  attention  on  the  leading  features  of 
Finnish  life,  and  not  to  go  too  much  into  details 
which,  in  the  absence  of  a  conception  of  the  country 
as  a  whole,  might  easily  prove  wearisome  or  confus- 
ing. The  general  ignorance  of  Finland  has  also 
made  a  small  amount  of  repetition  unavoidable,  as 
it  has  been  necessary  to  summarize  in  the  Introduc- 
tion matters  which  are  treated  at  greater  length 
in  subsequent  chapters. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  point  out  that  the  term 
**Finn"  is  sometimes  used  to  denote  any  citizen  of 
Finland,  and  sometimes,  in  a  narrower  sense,  to  dis- 
tinguish the  Finnish-speaking  from  the  Swedish- 
speaking  population  of  the  country.  Similarly 
** Swede"  sometimes  signifies  an  inhabitant  of 
Sweden,  and  sometimes  is  used  to  distinguish  the 
Swedish-speaking  from  the  Finnish-speaking  popu- 
lation of  Finland.    It  will  be  clear  from  the  con- 


.376179 


vi  PEEFACE 

text  whether  these  terms  are  used  in  the  narrower 
or  the  wider  sense. 

The  translations  in  the  book  are  the  author's, 
except  when  it  is  stated  to  the  contrary. 

The  hearty  thanks  of  the  author  are  due  to  the 
many  friends  who  have  assisted  him  either  by  ob- 
taining information  or  by  criticism  and  discussion. 
Also  to  the  editors  of  the  Dial,  for  permission  to 
reproduce  (in  the  course  of  Chapter  XV)  the 
greater  part  of  an  article  which  appeared  in  their 
periodical  last  year. 

Helsingfors 

July  19U 


Finnish  Money 

100  penni  =  1  Finnish  mark. 
The  Finnish  mark  is  equal  in  value  to  the 
French  franc. 


Measures 

The  metric  system  prevails  throughout 

Finland. 
1  metre         =  3  feet  3.37  inches. 
1  kilometre   =  1,093  yards  2  feet. 
8  kilometres  —  5  English  miles. 
1  hectar        =  10,000  square  metres. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

Pbeface V 

I.     Introductory      . 1 

II.     The  National  Movement  ....  23 

III.  The  Racial  Struggle 47 

IV.  Life  in  Helsingfors 65 

V.     The  Country-side 83 

VI.     Some   Country-side   Manners,   Cus- 
toms AND  Beliefs 105 

VII.     The  World  of  the  Ancient  Finns  .  122 

VIII.     The  Landmarks  of  Finnish  Litera- 
ture Since  Runeberg     ....  142 

IX.     Painting  and  Music 174 

X.     Education      .      .      .      ...     .      .  188 

XI.     The  Diet  and  Parties 206 

XII.     Finland's  World-industry     .      .      .  219 

XIII.  Other  Industries 231 

XIV.  The  Labour  Movement     ....  241 

XV.     The  Rights  of  Women     ....  249 

XVI.     The  Position  of  Finland  in  the  Rus- 
sian Empire 273 

XVII.     The  First  Period  of  Russianization  283 

XVIII.     The  Second  Period  of  Russianiza- 
tion         306 

XIX.     Finland  and  the  War 326 

Index 333 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

View  from  Fire  Station  Tower,  Helsingfoes 

Frontispiece 

FACING 
FAOE 

The  Statue  of  Elias  Lonnrot,  Helsingfoes     .  38 

Helsingfors,  Finland 90 

A  Market  Place,  Helsingfors 134 

Fine  Residence,  Helsingfors 180 

Part  of  Esplanade  and  National  Theatre,  Hels- 
ingfors  224 

Castle  at  Turku,  Linna.   Built  About  1200     .  256 

St.  Anne  Restaurant,  Wiborg 290 


FINLAND 

AND  THE  FINNS 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY 

^HE  war  of  1808-9,  by  which  Finland  passed 
^  from  Sweden  to  the  Empire  of  Russia,  has 
hardly  received  from  the  outside  world  the  atten- 
tion it  deserves.  It  was,  perhaps,  not  unnatural 
that  Europe  should  have  given  it  but  little  heed. 
The  eyes  of  most  men  were  fixed  upon  events  nearer 
home,  for  it  was  at  this  time  that  Napoleon's  mar- 
shals were  conducting  the  bloody  wars  against 
Wellington  in  the  Peninsula  and  agaist  the  heroic 
Hofer  and  his  fellow-peasants  in  Tyrol.  Words- 
worth's prophecy  of  two  years  earlier  seemed  near 
fulfilment : — 

Another  year! — another  deadly  blow! 
Another  mighty  Empire  overthrown  I 
And  we  are  left,  or  shall  be  left,  alone, 
The  last  that  dare  to  struggle  with  the  foe. 

Nevertheless,  the  war  between  Sweden  and  Rus- 
sia was  an  intrinsic  part  of  the  great  European 
struggle.    It  was  of  Napoleon's  making.    In  order 

1 


2   .  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

to  distract  Russia  from  Turkey,  he  incited  her  to 
attack  Sweden,  the  ally  of  Great  Britain.  Eussia 
was  to  recoup  herself  by  the  acquisition  of  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  kingdom  of  Sweden,  namely  Fin- 
land, which  had  been  for  centuries  the  battle-field 
of  Russians  and  Swedes.  The  Russian  Emperors 
had  long  wanted  the  country,  and  Alexander  I 
searched  for  a  pretext  to  declare  war.  He  de- 
manded that  Sweden  should  join  the  Continental 
System  and  exclude  British  goods.  When  Gustavus 
IV  foolishly  enough  refused,  a  Russian  army  crossed 
the  Finnish  frontier  and  the  long  struggle  com- 
menced. This  is  not  the  place  to  describe  the  strat- 
egy of  the  campaign  in  any  detail.  The  Finnish 
army  was  left  to  defend  itself  as  best  it  could.  It 
consisted  of  about  20,000  troops,  of  whom  some 
8,000  were  shut  up  in  the  fortresses  of  Sveaborg, 
Svartholm  and  Hangoudd  on  the  south  coast.  The 
field  force  of  12,000  had  to  confront  a  Russian  army 
of  24,000  under  Buxhoevden,  whose  strength  was 
subsequently  increased  by  reinforcements.  The 
Finnish  army,  moreover,  was  hampered  by  wretched 
leadership.  Klingspor,  the  Commander-in-Chief 
sent  over  by  King  Gustavus,  caused  his  troops  to 
retreat  when  they  wished  to  fight,  and  the  Russians 
advanced  when  and  how  they  pleased.  They  had 
crossed  the  frontier  on  February  21,  1808,  and  had 
taken  Svartholm  by  March  10th  and  Hangoudd  by 
March  21st.  Klingspor  retreated  continually  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  until  he  neared  Uleaborg, 
on  the  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia.  Here  the  tide 
turned.    The  Finns,  whose  anger  at  the  retreat  had 


INTEODUCTORY  3 

been  growing  from  day  to  day,  at  last  took  things 
into  their  own  hands  and  disobeyed  orders.  Klings- 
por  had  gone  on  to  Uleaborg,  leaving  Adlercreutz 
to  superintend  the  general  retreat  thither.  Adler- 
creutz did  so,  in  bitterness  of  heart.  But  his  own 
former  regiment  could  not  stand  it  and  refused 
to  budge.  The  Russians  came  to  the  attack,  and 
the  other  Finnish  regiments,  who  had  not  gone  far, 
hurried  back  to  the  rescue.  In  the  battle  that  fol- 
lowed the  Finns  won  a  complete  victory  against  a 
force  that  outnumbered  them  by  two  to  one.  Hav- 
ing begun,  they  continued.  The  army  won  noble 
victories,  and,  though  it  failed  to  follow  them  up, 
this  was  at  least  better  than  retreating.  The^  peas- 
ants took  an  active  part  in  the  war.  Thus,  in  Aland, 
under  the  leadership  of  two  of  their  Lutheran 
clergy,  they  attacked  the  Russians  and  took  several 
hundreds  of  prisoners,  and  elsewhere  they  assisted 
the  regular  troops  or  carried  on  guerilla  fighting. 
In  a  sense  it  was  all  in  vain.  Sveaborg,  **the  Gibral- 
tar of  the  North,"  lying  on  some  islands  by  Hels- 
ingfors  and  regarded  as  impregnable,  was  shame- 
fully surrendered  on  May  3rd,  and  after  winning 
battle  after  battle  against  heavy  odds  the  Finns 
were  finally  broken  at  Orivais  on  September  29th. 
But  the  gallant  resistance  bore  splendid  fruit.  It 
was  largely  due  to  this,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  later 
chapter,  that  Alexander  I  guaranteed  to  Finland  the 
preservation  of  the  Swedish  constitution — an  ines- 
timable gain,  which  rendered  all  her  subsequent 
progress  possible.  Having  realized  the  fighting  ca- 
pacity of  the  Finnish  peasant,  Alexander  was  not 


4  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

anxious  to  impose  such  conditions  as  might  lead  to 
a  Finnish  rising  in  favour  of  Swedish  rule,  more 
especially  as  the  incapable  Gustavus  IV  had  been 
replaced  on  the  throne  by  one  of  Napoleon's  great- 
est generals,  Bernadotte. 

But  the  resistance  of  the  Finns  did  more  for  them 
than  this.  It  caused  them  to  become  more  deeply 
conscious  of  themselves  as  a  nation,  it  quickened  to 
life  the  national  soul.  The  men  of  1808-9  grew  in  ' 
imagination  to  the  dimensions  of  national  heroes,  em- 
bodying the  nation's  greatest  deeds  and  aspirations. 
They  took  on  something  of  the  light  that  clings  about 
the  heroes  of  the  saga.  They  lived  a  new  life  in  the 
people's  mind,  of  which  they  have  become  more  and 
more  a  definite  part  through  their  projection  in 
Euneberg's  poetry.  Every  one  in  Finland  has  seen 
in  imagination  the  heroic  campaign,  waged  in  the 
darkness  of  a  northern  winter  amid  the  frozen  lakes 
and  snow-covered  forests  and  white,  silent  moors. 

The  country  in  which  this  great  struggle  was 
fought  out  is  a  land  of  strong  contrasts,  and  the 
visitor  to  it  will  get  a  very  different  impression  ac- 
cording to  the  season  at  which  he  arrives.  In  the 
summer  he  will  at  once  be  struck  by  the  intense 
blueness  and  clarity  of  the  sky,  and  will  find  these 
attributes  mirrored  in  thie  smooth  waters  of  the  tide- 
less  Baltic,  which  embraces  Finland  with  its  two 
arms,  the  Gulfs  of  Finland  and  Bothnia.  As  he 
approaches  the  coast  he  will  notice  with  pleasure 
the  innumerable  small  rocky  islands,  mostly  pine- 
clad,  which  form  a  belt  round  the  greater  part  of 
the  Finnish  coast  and  are  dotted  here  and  there 


INTEODUCTORY  5 

with  summer  villas.  He  will  gather  that  navigation 
through  this  maze  of  rocks  and  islands  is  an  art 
only  to  be  acquired  by  long  apprenticeship,  and  that 
a  people  living  so  much  'twixt  land  and  sea  must 
produce  a  hardy  breed  of  sailors. 

The  most  lasting  impression  of  all,  however,  may 
be  the  lightness  of  the  summer  nights,  when,  for 
several  weeks  in  succession,  neither  streets  nor 
houses  require  artificial  light,  and  one  might  be  ex- 
cused for  supposing  that  here  was  a  land  where  it 
is  always  summer,  where  one  could  remain  unmen- 
aced — 


Beside  a  sea  that  could  not  eease  to  smile; 
On  tranquil  land,  beneath  a  sky  of  bliss. 


If  the  visitor  arrive  in  winter,  this  fairy  picture  will 
have  dissolved  as  if  it  had  never  been  there.  Long 
before  he  sees  land  his  steamer  may  have  crunched 
its  way  through  loose  ice,  and  for  miles  around  the 
coast  he  will  find  an  iron  sea.  Instead  of  arriving 
at  Helsingf  ors,  as  he  would  probably  do  in  summer, 
he  will  have  to  land  at  Abo  or  Hango,  the  only  ports 
kept  open  throughout  the  winter  by  ice-breakers. 
If  he  is  fortunate,  he  may,  indeed,  see  glorious  sun- 
shine converting  the  snow-covered  land  to  a  glitter- 
ing plain  and  turning  each  separate  tree  into  a 
spiritual  presence.  But  in  midwinter  it  will  not  be 
for  long.  The  sun  rises  late  and  sets  early,  and  all 
the  light  is  crowded  into  a  few  short  hours,  upon 
which  darkness  falls;  yet  not  black  darkness,  for 
light  is  thrown  up  by  the  snow.    In  bad  weather 


6  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  sun  may  not  be  visible  for  weeks  on  end  and  a 
great  gloom  lies  over  everything.  It  seems  like  a 
land  where  it  is  always  winter.  But  already  in 
February  and  March,  when  the  days  have  grown 
longer  again,  one  may  see  sunlit  snow  for  weeks. 

It  is,  of  course,  in  summer  that  most  foreigners 
visit  the  country.  Some  come  for  the  sake  of  the 
voyage,  others  are  drawn  by  the  prospect  of  good 
fishing,  others  again  by  a  desire  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  scenery  and  people  of  this  still 
unknown  land.  The  scenery  may  be  briefly  de- 
scribed as  forest,  rock  and  water.  Dark  pine  for- 
ests stand  out  sharply  against  the  sky;  next  to  the 
pine,  the  silver  birch  is  the  most  common  tree. 
Apart  from  the  water,  this  unending  forest  scenery 
becomes  a  little  monotonous,  even  depressing,  but 
the  two  combined  form  some  of  the  loveliest  land- 
scape imaginable,  and  Finland,  the  land  of  a  thou- 
sand lakes,  is  peculiarly  rich  in  water.  You  may 
travel  for  days  on  the  lake  steamers  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  country,  nor  weary  of  the  changes  rung 
by  ever  new  combinations  of  lake,  forest  and  rocky 
island.  In  all  Europe  there  is  nothing  to  equal  the 
Saima  chain  of  lakes ;  one  has  to  go  to  North  Amer- 
ica for  a  parallel. 

To  the  geologist  Finland  is  of  unusual  interest, 
differing  in  important  respects  from  most  other 
European  countries.  It  is  the  glacial  period  that 
accounts  for  many  peculiar  traits  in  the  geography 
of  the  country.  During  its  continuance  Finland 
was  completely  covered  with  ice,  which,  as  can  be 
seen  from  the  striation  of  the  rocks,  moved  in  a 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

south  or  south-east  direction.  When  these  vast  ice- 
fields melted,  there  followed  a  rise  in  the  sea-level 
which  resulted  in  Finland  being  completely  sub- 
merged. The  soil  rests  on  a  huge  substructure  of 
crystalline  rocks,  such  as  granite,  gneiss  and  schist, 
which  contain  no  trace  of  the  animal  or  plant  life 
of  the  period  in  which  they  were  formed.  On  this 
foundation  lies  a  thin  covering  of  sand,  clays  or 
gravels,  through  which  the  rock  frequently  peeps. 
On  the  coasts  are  chiefly  found  the  richer  clay  lands, 
while  in  the  interior  of  the  country  gravels  predom- 
inate. 

Finland  has  no  great  mountain  ranges.  Nor  is  it 
completely  a  plain,  however.  It  is  rather  a  land 
of  little  hills.  The  majority  of  these  are  formed  of 
solid  rock,  and  are  often  impressive  for  their  abrupt- 
ness, if  not  for  their  height.  Long  low  sandhills 
are  also  common  in  most  parts  of  the  country. 
North  of  the  Polar  Circle  a  certain  number  of  hills 
reach  a  height  of  from  600  to  1,100  metres,  but 
south  of  this  no  hill  exceeds  600  metres,  the  general 
level  being  from  100  to  150  metres.  The  coast  land 
is  the  lowest,  and  barely  rises  to  50  metres  above 
sea-level. 

Finland  lies  between  the  60th  and  70th  degrees 
of  latitude  and  between  the  21st  and  33rd  degrees 
of  longitude,  reckoned  from  Greenwich.  The  south 
coast  is  thus  about  on  a  level  with  the  Shetland  Isl- 
ands, and  it  may  be  worth  pointing  out  that  Hels- 
ingfors,  the  Finnish  capital,  is  almost  on  the  same 
level  with  three  other  Northern  capitals — Peters- 
burg, Stockholm  and  Christiana.    A  glance  at  the 


8  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

map  shows  Eussia  on  tlie  long  eastern  frontier,  Nor- 
way on  the  north  just  cutting  Finland  off  from  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  and  Sweden  on  the  west,  running 
from  Tornea,  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia, 
up  to  the  critical  point  where  Norway,  Sweden  and 
the  Russian  Empire  meet.  In  this  region  Finland 
extends  a  finger,  as  it  were,  across  Sweden  and 
Norway,  the  frontier  reaching  to  within  some  20 
miles  of  one  of  the  Norwegian  fjords,  a  fact  which 
causes  considerable  uneasiness  to  those  who  believe 
that  Russia  intends  to  secure  for  herself  an  ice-free 
outlet  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  The  Swedish  frontier 
was  determined  in  1809  at  the  Peace  of  Fredrik- 
shamn,  when  Finland  passed  from  Sweden  into  the 
Russian  Empire.  For  the  rest,  Finland  is  bounded 
by  water,  which  tends  to  soften  the  severity  of  the 
climate.  The  west  coast  fronts  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia, 
while  on  the  south  is  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  which  is 
separated  by  a  comparatively  narrow  stretch  of 
land  from  the  great  inland  sea  of  Ladoga,  about 
half  of  whose  shores  are  Finnish. 

Other  factors  which  modify  the  harshness  of  the 
climate  are  the  great  lakes,  the  influence  of  the  Gulf 
Stream,  which  makes  itself  felt  even  in  Finland, 
and  the  fact  that  the  prevailing  winds  come  from 
the  south  and  west,  bringing  warmth  with  them. 
The  difference  of  climate  between  north  and  south 
is  very  great.  The  winter  lasts  for  about  eight 
months  in  the  north  and  five  in  the  south.  At  Hels- 
ingf ors  the  longest  day  is  of  about  I8I/2  hours,  while 
in  the  far  north  of  Finland  the  summer  sun  does  not 
set  for  two  or  three  months. 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

Passing  from  the  land  to  the  people,  the  first 
point  to  be  apprehended  is  that  Finland  is  a  coun- 
try with  two  distinct  races.  The  Swedes  entered 
from  the  west,  the  Finns  from  the  east.  The  latter 
were  the  more  numerous,  the  former  the  more  highly- 
civilized.  Of  the  inhabitants  to-day  86.7  speak  Fin- 
nish, 12.9  speak  Swedish,  the  remaining  fraction 
being  Russians,  Germans  and  Lapps. 

The  origins  of  the  Finnish  race  are  still  not  clear, 
though  much  light  has  been  thrown  upon  the  subject 
since  Matthias  Castren  undertook  his  remarkable 
journeys  of  exploration  in  the  eighteen-f  orties.  Cas- 
tren was  the  son  of  a  pastor  in  the  northern  town 
of  Kemi,  and  was  early  fired  by  the  desire  to  learn 
as  much  as  possible  about  the  peoples  related  to 
the  Finns.  Accordingly,  he  visited  a  great  number 
of  remote  and  forgotten  tribes  in  North  Europe  and 
Siberia,  which  had  originally  formed  component 
parts  of  the  Finnish  race.  It  was  a  life  of  the  ut- 
most hardship.  To  reach  the  different  tribes  he 
had  to  cross  deserts  and  snowfields,  sleep  out  in  the 
open  or  in  miserable  hovels,  and  be  content  with 
the  scantiest  food.  He  lived  among  the  Samoyedes 
and  other  savage  peoples,  learned  their  language, 
joined  them  in  their  hunting  and  fishing  and  daily 
occupations,  and  entirely  won  their  confidence.  He 
was  thus  able  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  scientific 
study  of  Finnish  origins  which  has  been  proceed- 
ing steadily  ever  since.  He  became  professor  at  the 
University  of  Helsingf  ors,  where  his  memory  is  hon- 
oured as  one  of  its  most  distinguished  investigators, 
but  died  in  1852,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-eight. 


10  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

The  Finnish  tribes  of  North  Asia  are  still  much  the 
same  as  when  Castren  visited  them — simple,  kindly 
folk,  struggling  to  maintain  an  existence  in  the  face 
of  ruthless  Nature.  But  in  the  South  of  Europe  is 
another  race,  connected  with  the  Finns,  which  has 
left  these  primitive  conditions  far  behind,  namely 
the  Magyars  of  Hungary,  who  succeeded  in  pene- 
trating to  a  kindlier  region  than  any  of  their  fel- 
lows and  making  some  considerable  stir  in  Euro- 
pean history.  The  Finns  thus  belong  to  the  Finnish- 
Ugrian  stock.  They  are  related  to  the  Esthonians 
and  Livs,  and  more  distantly  to  the  Finnish  tribes 
on  the  Volga  and  in  the  Urals.  They  are  supposed 
to  have  come  to  Finland  in  different  detachments 
about  the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  from  the  re- 
gion about  the  Volga.  Two  main  subdivisions  are 
usually  distinguished  among  them,  namely,  the  Ka- 
relians  and  the  Tavasts,  inhabiting  the  east  and  west 
of  Finland  respectively.  The  Tavasts  are  the 
tougher  race,  the  Karelians  the  more  sociable  and 
artistic.  It  is  among  the  latter  that  the  old  Fin- 
nish runes  have  been  preserved. 

The  language  of  the  Finns  has  neither  a  Latin  nor 
a  Germanic  nor  a  Slavic  origin,  but  belongs  to  a  group 
which  includes  Hungarian,  Esthonian,  Lappish,  and 
a  great  many  dialects  spoken  by  Finnish  tribes  in 
Russia.  In  Finland  a  distinction  is  drawn  between 
West  Finnish  and  East  Finnish,  the  former  of  which 
has  been  a  little  influenced  by  Swedish,  the  latter  by 
Eussian.  West  Finnish  has  the  place  of  honour. 
The  Bible  was  translated  into  it  some  three  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  this  stamped  it  as  the  founda- 


INTRODUCTORY  11 

tion  of  the  written  language.  Even  to-day  the  lan- 
guage may  be  regarded  as  still  in  course  of  con- 
struction and  as  not  having  assumed  its  final 
form  (if,  for  the  sake  of  comparison,  we  may 
use  the  word  ** final"  of  so  changing  a  thing  as  lan- 
guage). 

It  is  an  extremely  difficult  tongue  for  a  foreigner 
to  learn,  but  if  well  spoken  it  is  a  beautiful  one. 
The  structure  is  complex  but  regular.  There  are 
fifteen  cases,  with  a  corresponding  paucity  of  prepo- 
sitions. The  accent  always  falls  on  the  first  syllable. 
Finnish  resembles  Italian  in  having  a  large  number 
of  open  vowel  sounds,  which  makes  it  a  beautiful 
language  to  sing.  It  is  capable  of  expressing  accu- 
rately a  great  many  different  shades  of  meaning. 
To  hear  it  spoken  at  its  best  one  must  go  into  the 
interior  of  the  country. 

The  Swedish-speaking  inhabitants,  although  found 
in  small  numbers  in  most  parts  of  the  country,  are 
mainly  situated  in  the  south,  along  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land, in  the  Aland  Islands  and  in  the  southern  part 
of  Osterbotten,  on  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia.  The  lan- 
guage they  speak  differs  somewhat  in  pronunciation 
from  the  Swedish  of  Sweden.  The  intonation  is 
more  like  that  of  English  people,  and  to  a  Swedish 
Finn  the  Swedes  proper  appear  to  sing  their  words. 
The  vocabulary  also  differs  to  some  extent,  some 
Finnish  expressions  having  found  their  way  into  the 
language  and  some  old  Swedish  terms  having 
been  conserved  in  Finland  though  now  obsolete  in 
Sweden.  This  difference,  though  very  slight,  ap- 
pears in  literature  also. 


12  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  has  been  a 
considerable  mixture  of  races  in  Finland  and  that 
many  of  the  original  distinctions  between  Karelian, 
Tavast  and  Swede  have  been  blurred.  The  two 
sections  of  the  Finnish  race  have  not  only  inter- 
married largely  with  each  other  but  also  with  the 
Swedes.  There  must,  moreover,  be  a  fair  sprink- 
ling of  Russian  blood  in  the  country,  owing  both 
to  the  proximity  of  Eussia  and  to  the  perpetual 
wars  with  her.  It  is  very  remarkable,  however,  how 
few  persons  there  are  in  Finland  who  speak  Rus- 
sian as  their  mother  tongue.  They  only  number 
some  eight  thousand,  exclusive,  of  course,  of  the 
Russian  military  and  naval  forces  stationed  in  the 
country.  Until  recently  many  educated  Russians 
sent  their  children  to  Swedish-speaking  schools,  and 
the  children  have  often  forgotten  the  Russian  lan- 
guage. The  same  thing  has  happened  in  the  case 
of  several  German  merchant  families. 

Civilization  came  to  Finland  from  Sweden.  It  is 
probable  that  even  before  the  Christian  era  there 
had  been  Swedish  settlements  in  Finland,  but  the 
real  colonization  came  later.  During  the  period  of 
the  Crusades,  probably  in  1157,  King  Eric  of  Swe- 
den led  the  first  missionary  expedition  against  the 
heathen  Finns,  whom,  seeing  that  they  would  not 
be  influenced  by  argument,  he  converted  at  the 
sword's  point.  He  left  behind  him  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Abo  some  Swedish  colonists,  including 
Bishop  Henry,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  who  was 
shortly  afterwards  murdered  and  has  since  been 


INTRODUCTORY  13 

revered  as  Finland's  patron  saint.  Henry  was  a 
man  of  great  courage  and  did  not  fear  to  make  ex- 
peditions on  his  horse  or  in  his  sleigh  into  the  very 
heart  of  heathendom.  In  the  absence  of  churches 
he  preached  in  barns  and  kilns,  and  there  is  still 
preserved  near  Bjorneborg  a  ruined  barn  in  which 
he  is  said  to  have  held  a  service.  After  his  murder 
by  a  Jb'inn  who  attacked  him  on  the  ice  with  an  axe, 
his  body  became  a  very  precious  relic.  It  was  even- 
tually taken  to  Abo  and  placed  in  the  cathedral. 
Many  stories  are  told  of  the  martyr.  According  to 
one  of  them,  he  used  to  wear  a  valuable  ring  on  his 
thumb.  His  assassin  cut  off  the  thumb  in  order  to 
get  the  ring,  but  both  thumb  and  ring  fell  into  the 
snow  and  could  not  be  found.  In  the  early  spring 
a  blind  old  man  and  his  son  rowed  over  the 
lake  and  the  boy  saw  a  raven  poking  about  with 
its  bill  on  a  piece  of  floating  ice.  Rowing  up  to 
the  place,  the  boy  found  the  Bishop's  thumb  and 
ring,  and  when  the  old  man  applied  the  former  to 
his  eye  he  recovered  his  sight.  The  Chapter  at 
Abo  has  a  thumb  and  ring  on  its  seal  to  this 
day. 

The  colonists  grouped  round  the  fortress  and 

o 

bishopric  of  Abo  maintained  themselves  with  diffi- 
culty against  the  attacks  of  Finns  and  Russians 
until  1249,  when  the  famous  Birger  Jarl  led  the  so- 
called  Second  Crusade  to  Finland,  penetrated  into 
Tavastland  and  founded  the  fortress  of  Tavastehus 
to  protect  the  conquered  territory.  This  expedition 
consolidated  the  Swedish  rule  in  the  districts  called 
Abo,   Nyland  and   Tavastland.     In   1293   Torgils 


14  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Knutsson  extended  Sweden's  power  still  farther 
eastwards  and  founded  the  fortress  of  Viborg, 
where  he  came  into  conflict  with  the  Russians.  In 
a  second  campaign  he  penetrated  as  far  as  Lake 
Ladoga  and  the  Neva,  but  was  not  able  to  main- 
tain his  hold  on  this  region,  and  only  Western 
Karelia  remained  in  his  hands.  The  ancient  for- 
tresses of  Tavastehus  and  Viborg  still  stand  to  mark 
the  successful  advance  of  Swedish  arms.  From  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  Finland  became 
an  integral  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Sweden,  the  Fin- 
nish provinces  enjoying  the  same  legislative  rights 
as  those  of  Sweden,  and  the  Finns  enjoying  the 
same  common  law  (the  code  of  Magnus  Eriksen, 
c,  1350,  and  of  King  Christopher,  1442).  In  1623 
a  Court  of  Appeal  for  Finland  was  founded  in  Abo, 
and  in  1640  a  University.  During  centuries  the  Law 
and  the  Church  educated  the  Finnish  people  to  take 
a  place  among  the  nations  of  West  Europe.  As  in 
Sweden,  the  law  was,  and  is,  administered  by  courts 
composed  of  a  learned  judge,  as  chairman,  and  a 
body  of  peasants — the  ndmnd.  These  peasants  de- 
cide not  only  the  question  of  fact,  but  also  the  ques- 
tion of  law,  and  have,  when  unanimous,  the  casting 
vote  if  they  differ  from  the  judge.  Thus  every  ses- 
sion has  been,  and  is,  a  popular  legal  education. 
The  influence  of  the  Lutheran  Church  has,  until 
quite  recent  times,  been  very  great.  Up  to  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  clergy  were 
recruited  from  many  of  the  best  teachers  of  the 
University  and  the  higher  schools,  and  have  really 
been  the  spiritual  shepherds  of  their  flock.     The 


INTRODUCTORY  15 

Finnisli  language  was,  of  course,  used  in  preaching 
to  Finnish-speaking  congregations. 

Thus  the  Finns  received  from  Sweden  Christian- 
ity and  West  European  culture,  together  with  the 
principles  of  personal  and  political  freedom.  Fin- 
nish continued  to  be  spoken  by  the  vast  majority  of 
the  population,  however,  and  the  defence  of  the 
country  was  mainly  entrusted  to  troops  consisting 
chiefly  of  Finns.  In  the  course  of  centuries  the 
Finns  and  the  Swedes  have,  as  we  saw,  considerably 
intermixed.  Swedes  who  settled  in  Finland  mar- 
ried Finnish  wives,  and  the  resulting  fusion  of  races 
was  furthered  by  the  educational  conditions  in  the 
country.  From  the  time  when  Latin  was  discarded 
as  the  language  of  instruction  until  after  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  Finnish  national 
movement  had  gathered  irresistible  force,  Swedish 
was  exclusively  used  at  all  educational  institutions, 
and  it  was  necessary  for  Finns  who  desired  higher 
education  to  exchange  their  language  for  Swedish. 
Thus  large  numbers  of  Finns  became  members  of 
the  Swedish-speaking  class  and  married  into  it.  In 
spite  of  the  considerable  racial  fusion,  however,  the 
extreme  divergency  of  their  languages  made  a  close 
intimacy  between  the  Finnish-  and  the  Swedish- 
speaking  inhabitants  difficult,  and  the  latter  con- 
tinued to  be  the  ruling  class  in  Finland.  It  should 
not  be  lost  sight  of,  however,  that  this  class  was  to 
a  quite  considerable  extent  recruited  from  the 
Finnish-speaking  population,  which  entered  it  and 
was  assimilated  to  it. 

After  being  for  centuries  a  province  of  Sweden, 


16  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Finland  was,  as  we  have  pointed  out,  transferred 
in  1809  to  the  Empire  of  Russia.  This  was  only  the 
culmination  to  a  long  series  of  events.  The  struggle 
between  Sweden  and  the  growing  power  of  Russia 
in  the  eighteenth  century  was  fought  out  mainly  in 
Finland.  In  1721  Russian  acquired  the  south-east 
corner  of  the  country,  and  in  1743  Sweden  was 
forced  also  to  cede  the  province  of  Viborg.  Finally, 
during  the  great  struggle  of  1808-9,  the  Finns,  worn 
out  with  conflict  and  seeing  no  further  possibility  of 
help  from  Sweden,  accepted  Alexander  I's  gener- 
ous offer  that  they  should  enter  the  Russian  Em- 
pire, conserving  as  their  own  the  Constitution  of 
Sweden,  and  with  it,  of  course,  the  whole  legisla- 
tion then  in  force.  No  Russian  law  was  introduced 
into  Finland.  Alexander  I  thus  became  the  Grand 
Duke  or  constitutional  monarch  of  Finland,  the  cap- 
ital of  which  was  soon  removed  from  Abo  to  Hels- 
ingfors.  Relations  between  the  Swedish-speaking 
officials  of  Finland  and  the  Russian  Court  were  very 
cordial,  and  large  numbers  of  Finnish  Swedes  took 
service  in  the  Russian  army.  The  change  was  in 
many  ways  a  blessing  to  Finland,  which  had  been 
devastated  by  the  never  ceasing  wars.  Now,  for 
the  first  time  for  centuries,  the  necessary  condition 
for  real  progress  opened  out  for  the  country, 
namely,  a  long  period  of  unbroken  peace,  and  Fin- 
land, as  will  be  seen,  was  not  slow  to  take  advantage 
of  it.  But  the  union  with  Russia  carried  in  it  the 
seeds  of  the  conflict  which  is  being  fought  out  at 
the  present  day.  The  subject  will  be  treated  at 
length  later;  here  it  is  sufficient  to  point  out  cer- 


INTRODUCTORY  17 

tain  stages  in  the  conflict  to  which  frequent  ref- 
erence will  have  to  be  made. 

With  the  Swedish  constitution,  Finland  had,  of 
course,  a  representation.    There  was,  legally,  a  Fin- 
nish parliament  (riksdag)  elected  in  the  same  way 
as  that  of  Sweden.    The  Swedish  Riksdag  consisted 
of  Four  Estates :  nobles,  clergy,  burgesses  and  peas- 
ants.    Its  organization  dated  from  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  cetury,  the  time  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus.    But  its  origins  are  very  much  older ;  in 
fact,  as  far  as  history  goes  back,  the  Swedish  people 
has  voted  laws  and  taxes  through  general  assem- 
blies.    During  the  later  Middle  Ages  meetings  of 
nobles  were  convoked  to  the  king's  Samtaln,  lit- 
erally, parliaments.    Out  of  these  the  Riksdag  grew 
and  inherited  the  people 's  right  to  make  its  laws  and 
vote  its  taxes.    Now,  in  1809  Alexander  I  convoked 
such  a  riksdag,  or,  as  it  is  called  in  Finland,  a  landt-  / 
dag  or  diet,  at  the  Finnish  town  of  Borgd.     This  / 
Diet  he  attended  in  person,  and  in  a  speech  made? 
in  French  gave  his  confirmation  of  the  constitution.^ 
The  Diet  then  did  him  homage  as  Grand  Duke  of 
Finland.     Thus  was  completed  the  Act  of  Union. 
Alexander,   at  that  time   a  Liberal,   created  this 
Grand  Duchy  as  a  jar  din  d'acclimatation  for  West- 
ern ideas  and  institutions  in  the  Russian  Empire — 
the  same  policy  which  in  1815  he  pursued  in  Poland. 
In  Finland  he  won  what  he  immediately  wanted,  \ 
namely,  the  gratitude  of  a  loyal  people,  which  was  I 
a  guarantee  against  the  reoccupation  of  the  land  by  j 
Sweden.    As  the  Emperor  grew  more  conservative, 
he  still  upheld  Finland  as  being  the  loyal  Grand 


18  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Duchy,  a  land  of  ancien  regime,  where  no  French 
revolutionary  ideas  had  ever  penetrated  and  where 
he  enjoyed  the  same  devotion  as  had  formerly  ac- 
crued to  the  Swedish  king — Gustavus  III.  But 
Alexander  did  not  again  convoke  the  Diet,  nor  did 
his  successor,  Nicholas  I.  In  fact,  it  was  not  con- 
voked till  1863,  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  II.  Nev- 
ertheless, the  constitution  was  not  violated.  For 
the  monarch  was  not  bound  to  convoke  the  estates 
regularly,  but  only  when  he  wanted  a  new  law  or 
a  new  grant,  and  there  was  till  1863  no  new  legisla- 
tion or  taxation  in  Finland.  The  constitution  was, 
indeed,  more  scrupulously  observed  than  by  the  two 
last  Swedish  kings. 

For  the  central  administration  and  jurisdiction  a 
Senate  was  created,  like  that  of  Russia,  its  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  (Justitiedepartment)  being  a  su- 
preme court  and  its  Department  of  Economy 
(Ekonomiedepartment)  being  the  central  adminis- 
tration. The  Senators  were  Finnish  citizens;  only 
in  1912  was  the  first  Russian  introduced  into  the 
Department  of  Economy,  while  in  the  Department 
of  Justice  all  the  members  are  as  yet  Finns. 

Finnish  affairs  have  been,  and  are  still,  reported 
to  the  Emperor  by  a  Finn,  the  Minister  Secretary 
of  State.  Between  1809  and  1811,  however,  a  Rus- 
sian official,  the  Liberal  statesman  Speranski,  had 
charge  of  Finland.  Having  organized  the  Grand 
Duchy,  he  said  in  a  letter  to  the  Emperor:  ** Fin- 
land is  a  state,  not  a  province."  His  successor  was 
Count  G.  M.  Armf elt,  the  favourite  of  Alexander  I 
and  formerly  of  Gustavus  III  of  Sweden.     Only 


INTRODUCTORY  19 

since  1907  have  Finnish  affairs  passed  through  the 
Russian  Council  of  Ministers,  which,  however, 
merely  advises  approval  or  rejection  of  what  the 
Finnish  Senate  has  proposed;  it  does  not  itself 
prepare  Finnish  administrative  matters.  The 
Governor-General  has  mostly  been  a  Russian.  This 
high  official  is  chairman  of  the  Senate  (where,  how- 
ever, he  never  sits)  and  chief  of  the  executive.  Up 
to  the  'nineties  he  did  not  take  much  interest  in 
the  routine  business  of  administration.  Since  then 
he  has  been  the  chief  agent  of  russianization. 

After  1863,  the  Diet  was  regularly  summoned  ■ 
every  third  year.  There  was  never  any  quarrel  l 
between  the  Grand  Duke  and  the  representatives 
of  his  Grand  Duchy,  and  his  being  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  did  not  cause  any  difficulty.  The  interests 
of  Russia  were  fully  safeguarded  by  Finnish  leg- 
islation, the  Diet  having  good  reason  to  comply 
with  the  wishes  of  Russian  Ministers,  when  ex- 
pressed. But  for  the  most  part,  as  there  were  very 
few  points  of  friction,  Finland  was  utterly  ignored 
by  Russian  officials. 

In  1878,  when  a  national  Finnish  army  was  cre- 
ated, with  Finnish  officers  and  Finnish  court- 
martials,  etc.,  it  was  officially  declared  by  Alex- 
ander III  himself  to  be  an  excellent  part  of  the 
Russian  army.  But  meanwhile  Russian  national- j 
ism  was  growing  stronger  and  demanding  the  uni-  ■ 
fication  of  the  Empire.  In  1899  the  present  Tsar 
decided  that  Russian  military  law  was  to  be  intro- 
duced into  Finland  without  the  consent  of  the  Diet. 
The  latter  was,  indeed,  consulted,  but  as  it  was 


20  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

clear  that  it  would  not  pass  the  Bill,  the  Manifesto 
of  February  15,  1899,  was  issued,  declaring  that 
any  law  demanded  by  an  ** imperial  interest" 
might  be  passed  without  the  consent  of  the  Diet. 
\This  was  meant  as  a  death-blow  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  Finland,  the  imperial  interest  being  an  en- 
tirely vague  notion,  and  the  Emperor  reserving  to 
himself  the  right  to  interpret  it  in  casu.  This  was 
quickly  followed  by  the  systematic  russianization 
of  the  country  by  General  Bobrikoff,  who  terrorized 
the  nation  until  his  dramatic  assassination  in  1904. 
These  five  years  are  conveniently  referred  to  as 
the  Bobrikoff  period,  or  the  first  period  of  russian- 
ization. They  were  succeeded  by  a  brief  period  of 
respite.  In  the  autumn  of  1905,  at  the  same  time 
as  the  Tsar  was  compelled  to  summon  the  first 
Duma,  the  Finns,  by  means  of  a  general  strike, 
which  seems  to  have  broken  out  spontaneously, 
from  an  instinctive  recognition  of  the  psychologi- 
cal moment  for  striking  a  blow  for  freedom,  in- 
duced the  Emperor  to  recall  all  illegal  ordinances 
and  to  restore  the  constitution  on  a  wider  basis. 
Their  jubilation  was  short-lived,  however,  for  the 
Russian  Government  was  only  waiting  until  the 
Duma  should  be  rendered  powerless  at  home  and 
the  revolutionaries  crushed  before  it  resumed  the 
destruction  of  Finnish  autonomy.  The  second 
period  of  russianization,  which  is  still  proceeding 
at  the  time  of  publication,  may  be  roughly  dated 
from  the  autumn  of  1909. 

The  conflict  with  Eussia  brought  in  its  train  cat- 
aclysmic changes  in  the  internal  economy  of  Fin- 


INTRODUCTORY  21 

land.  Had  there  been  no  external  trouble,  tbe  in- 
ternal adjustments  would  no  doubt  have  occurred, 
but  they  would  have  taken  place  in  a  far  less  sud- 
den and  volcanic  manner  than  was  actually  the 
case.  When  the  constitution  was  restored  in  1905, 
many  long-delayed  reforms  were  carried  out  with 
great  abruptness  and  thoroughness.  The  formerly 
very  restricted  parliamentary  representation  was 
transformed  from  the  old  Swedish  system  of  Four 
Estates,  sitting  separately,  to  a  single  Chamber 
elected  by  universal  adult  suffrage  on  a  system  of 
proportional  representation.  In  the  new  Parlia- 
ment, or  Diet,  of  200  members  there  sat  19  women 
and  no  less  than  80  Socialists.  Nor  did  these  wide- 
reaching  changes  take  place  without  considerable 
Labour  disturbances.  The  General  Strike,  while 
directed  primarily  against  Russia,  contained  also 
a  large  element  of  class  feeling,  which  has  not 
yet  subsided  and  is  sometimes  very  bitter. 

All  these  circumstances  have  combined  to  leave 
Finland  in  a  very  unsettled  state,  and  it  is  often 
very  difficult  to  separate  the  accidental  and  tem- 
porary from  the  essential  and  permanent  elements 
of  modern  Finnish  life.  Finland  is  indeed  an  ex- 
traordinary mixture  of  the  new  and  the  old.  In 
some  places  it  is  rushing  onward  at  motor  speed, 
in  others  the  conditions  existing  for  centuries  have 
not  been  disturbed.  Women  are  admitted  to  Par- 
liament, but  at  social  gatherings  men  and  women 
still  usually  form  separate  groups.  Stone  houses 
of  six  stories,  with  every  modern  convenience, 
jostle  one-storied  wooden  abodes,  even  in  many  of 


22  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  principal  streets  of  Helsingfors.  In  telephones 
Finland  is  far  ahead  of  us,  in  drainage  woefully 
behind. 

Certain  things,  however,  strike  one  as  being  char- 
acteristic of  the  Finns  as  a  whole.  Their  virtues 
are  steady  and  stolid,  not  usually  of  a  brilliant 
nature.  In  spite  of  a  contrary  tendency  visible 
among  the  younger  generation,  I  should  place  the 
virtue  of  perseverance  prominent  among  the  per- 
manent attributes  of  Finnish  character.  Quiet  en- 
durance also  takes  a  high  rank.  Notwithstanding 
the  wave  of  materialism  that  has  swept  over  the 
country,  the  Finns  are  at  heart  a  very  religious 
and  law-abiding  people.  They  have  a  profound 
love  of  liberty,  a  quality  that  endears  them  to 
Englishmen,  and  a  sturdy  hatred  of  tyranny.  They 
have  the  defects  of  their  qualities  in  being  at  times 
obstinate  to  the  degree  of  mulishness  and  very 
slow.  They  sometimes  seem  too  earnest  about  life 
and  a  little  suspicious  of  gaiety  and  playfulness. 
Nevertheless  there  is  in  them  a  latent  capacity  for 
passion  and  warmth  which  breaks  forth  surpris- 
ingly at  times,  reminding  one  momentarily  of 
Southerners.  The  fine  flower  of  Finnish  character 
is  a  childlike  simplicity  and  transparency  com- 
bined with  quiet  strength. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT 

NOT  long  ago,  any  one  speaking  of  the  smaller 
nations  of  North  Europe  was  understood  to 
refer  to  Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark.  To-day 
Finland  must  be  included  in  the  list,  and  the  present 
chapter  attempts  to  give  some  notion  of  the  men  and 
events  which  pushed  Finland  out  of  obscurity  into 
the  light  of  an  independent  nationality.  To  do  justice 
to  the  National  movement,  however,  an  entire  volume 
would  be  necessary.  For  the  movement  may  be  re- 
garded from  many  different  aspects.  Philosophi-^ 
cally,  it  may  perhaps  best  be  described  as  a  desper-i 
ate  attempt  to  preserve  Finland's  individuality  from 
being  merged  in  the  vastness  of  Russia,  when  once 
the  nexus  with  Sweden  had  been  cut.  To  achieve 
this  end  a  vivid  sense  of  nationality  was  essential, 
and  the  genius  of  the  Finnish  people  was  sufficiently 
virile  to  adapt  itself  to  the  new  conditions  and  de- 
velop that  sense.  Historically,  however,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  the  movement  may  be  said  to  have 
commenced  far  earlier  than  1809.  But  it  was  after 
1809  that  it  came  to  a  head,  and  it  had  many  char- 
acteristics in  common  with  the  other  Nationalist 
movements  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Racially,  it  represents   a  struggle  between  the 

23 


24  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Swedish-speaking  and  the  Finnish-speaking  inhabi- 
tants, resulting  in  the  full  enfranchisement  of  the 
latter,  while,  as  the  former  constituted  roughly  an 
upper  and  the  latter  a  lower  class,  the  struggle  also 
takes  on  the  aspect  of  a  class  conflict. 

To  attempt  to  treat  the  subject  in  all  its  different 
aspects  is  out  of  the  question  in  the  present  work. 
But  as  no  one  can  possibly  understand  modern  Fin- 
land without  some  knowledge  of  the  movement,  it  is 
necessary,  however  imperfectly,  to  give  a  brief  ac- 
count of  it,  and  especially  to  try  and  convey  some 
idea  of  the  spirit  animating  the  men  who  best  rep- 
resent it. 

The  sources  of  the  National  movement  may  per- 
haps be  traced  back  as  far  as  1548,  when  Michael 
Agricola  published  the  first  Finnish  translation  of 
the  New  Testament.  A  hundred  years  later,  in  1640, 
Per  Brahe,  the  famous  Swedish  Governor  of  Fin- 
land, founded  the  University  of  Abo  and  recom- 
mended the  professors,  who  were  Swedes,  to  learn 
the  Finnish  language,  which  ^'does  not  lack  a  cer- 
tain elegance  in  its  construction  and  does  honour  to 
the  country.''  A  complete  Finnish  translation  of 
the  Bible  appeared  two  years  later,  and  when  about 
this  time  a  printing-press  was  established  in  Abo  a 
considerable  number  of  Finnish  books  began  to  be 
published. 

Bad  times  were  in  store  for  the  country,  however, 
and  interfered  with  its  normal  development.  The 
great  wars  which  lifted  Sweden  to  her  zenith  of 
power  and  her  tragic  fall  reached  upon  Finland 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  25 

Thousands  of  her  best  men  fell  fighting  in  the  Thirty 
Years  War,  and  those  who  stayed  at  home  were  im- 
poverished by  the  heavy  taxes  necessitated  by  the 
wars.  Moreover,  as  we  saw,  Finland  later  became 
the  battle-field  for  Sweden  and  Russia  and  was  rav- 
aged time  after  time.  Topelius  describes  how,  when 
the  Swedish  refugees  returned  to  their  homes  after 
the  disastrous  Peace  of  Nystad  in  1721,  they  found 
the  roads  destroyed,  the  bridges  broken,  no  horses, 
no  food,  the  whole  country  a  desert.  The  houses 
were  either  burned  down  or  roofless  and  window- 
less,  their  contents  sacked;  the  wells  were  filled 
up  with  earth,  the  plough-lands  were  overgrown 
with  forest,  birds  had  their  nests  in  the  abandoned 
churches.  The  University  was  closed  between  1713 
and  1722,  and  other  important  institutions  suffered 
acutely  during  the  same  period. 

After  the  Peace  of  Nystad  the  country  began  to 
revive,  but  the  separation  of  the  two  races  and  lan- 
guages seems  to  have  been  more  keenly  felt  than 
ever  before.  The  Swedish  element  formed  an  iso- 
lated and  superior  class.  The  Finnish  language, 
which  was  the  mother  tongue  of  the  vast  major- 
ity of  the  inhabitants,  was  not  taught  in  the  schools, 
and  all  judicial  and  administrative  proceedings 
were  conducted  exclusively  in  Swedish.  It  fre- 
quently happened  that  Swedish  officials  did  not 
understand  the  language  of  the  country  they  were 
called  upon  to  administer.  All  the  privileges  of 
education  and  culture  were  confined  to  the  Swedish- 
speaking  class,  so  that  if  a  Finn  wished  for  edu- 
cation he  was  compelled  to  give  up  his  native  Ian- 


26  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

guage  and  become  **a  Swede" — a  fact  which  has 
always  rankled  in  the  breasts  of  the  Finns. 

Nevertheless,  indirectly  the  disastrous  Peace  of 
Nystad  helped  to  bring  the  two  races  together.  For 
it  became  apparent  that  Finland  would  be  less  and 
less  able  to  rely  on  Sweden  for  help  against  the 
ever  growing  power  of  Eussia.  This  tended  to 
loosen  imperceptibly  the  bond  with  Sweden  and  to 
develop  a  more  independent  and  self-reliant  habit 
\  of  thought  among  the  inhabitants  of  Finland,  which 
in  its  turn  led  up  to  the  conception  of  a  national 
Finland,  having  an  independent  life  and  history 
of  its  own.  The  idea  is  especially  associated  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century  with  the  great  scholar 
at  Abo,  Henrik  Porthan,  who,  though  he  wrote  in 
Latin  and  Swedish,  was  an  enthusiast  for  the  his- 
tory, geography,  philology  and  antiquities  of  Fin- 
land and  inspired  a  large  number  of  young  schol- 
ars to  make  researches  in  these  fields.  The  senti- 
ment of  national  consciousness  was  immensely 
.'  stirred  in  1809,  when  Finland  passed  into  the  Rus- 
^  sian  Empire,  and  Alexander  I  made  the  famous 
declaration  that  *^the  Finnish  people  is  henceforth 
placed  in  the  ranks  of  the  European  nations.''  But 
people  began  to  ask,  **What  is  the  Finnish  na- 
tion?'' They  saw  an  official  class  isolated  from 
the  people.  Was  this  a  possible  basis  for  a  strong 
nation?  Was  it  not  desirable  to  give  the  mass  of 
the  people  a  real  interest  in  the  maintenance  of 
Finland's  independence  and  of  the  social  order  by 
admitting  them  to  the  full  rights  and  privileges  of 
citizenship  ? 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  27 

The  current  of  thought  thus  started  soon  ex- 
pressed itself  not  merely  in  the  scientific  and  lit- 
erary pursuits  of  Porthan's  followers,  but  also  in 
politics.  Thus  in  181_9  an  article  appeared  in  the 
journal  Mnemosyne  to  the  effect  that  there  were 
two  real  obstacles  to  progress  in  Finland :  firstly, 
the  fact  that  Finnish  was  not  in  general  use  either  / 
in  society  or  as  a  written  language;  secondly,  that 
Swedish  was  the  official  language.  A  series  of  sim- 
ilar articles  appeared  in  the  Abo  Morgonhlad 
from  the  pen  of  E.  G.  Ehrstrom,  who  advocated 
Finnish  as  the  language  of  instruction  at  schools 
and  the  University,  and  desired  the  fixing  of  a  date 
after  which  all  State  officials  should  be  required 
to  use  the  language  of  the  mass  of  the  people. 
A.  J.  Arvidsson  wrote  to  the  same  effect,  and  ad- 
vanced the  famous  proposition,  **We  are  not 
Swedes,  we  don't  want  to  become  Russians,  so  we 
have  to  be  Finns."  Such  proposals  were  not  to 
the  liking  of  the  authorities,  who  described  them, 
in  a  term  afterwards  to  become  famous,  as  fen- 
nomania.  They  came  at  a  time  when  all  over 
Europe  the  governing  classes  were  in  dread  of  rev- 
olution and  a  *^ national''  spirit  was  regarded  as 
peculiarly  dangerous.  The  infant  movement  was 
crushed,  the  issue  of  the  Aho  Morgonhlad  being 
prohibited,  Mnemosyne  coming  to  an  end  for  lack 
of  subscribers  and  Arvidsson  being  arbitrarily  de- 
prived of  his  lectureship  at  the  University,  upon 
which  he  retired  to  Sweden.  The  seed  of  the  move- 
ment was,  however,  soon  to  spring  up  again,  and 
far  more  successfully,  in  the  famous  '*  Saturday 


28  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Club."  This  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  a 
group  of  young  men  who  had  been  students  at  Abo 
in  the  'twenties  and  who  after  the  removal  of  the 
University  to  Helsingf ors,  consequent  on  the  great 
fire  at  Abo,  had  settled  in  the  new  capital.  The 
club  was  quite  informal.  It  had  no  chairman  or 
secretary,  no  rules  and  no  defined  object.  It  usu- 
ally met  on  Saturday  evenings  at  the  rooms  of  one 
of  the  group  and  discussed  literary  and  scientific 
matters  and  the  questions  of  the  day.  Certainly 
no  such  remarkable  society  has  ever  existed  in  Fin- 
land before  or  since.  As  one  reads  through  the 
list  of  members  one  realizes  that  practically  all  the 
best  intellectual  and  spiritual  forces  of  the  time 
belonged  to  the  circle,  and  in  studying  modern 
Finland  one  is  constantly  reminded  of  the  fact 
that  the  best  ideas  of  to-day  germinated  in  and 
branched  forth  from  the  minds  of  its  members. 

Women  as  well  as  men  belonged  to  the  circle,  as 
several  of  the  married  men  brought  their  wives. 
Fredrika  Runeberg,  the  wife  of  the  poet,  describes 
how  **most  of  the  subjects,  after  being  eagerly  and 
animatedly  discussed  by  the  men,  were  brought 
over  by  one  of  them  to  us  women  and  examined  by 
us  in  our  own  way,  and  our  views  were  then  con- 
veyed to  the  men."  This  curious  division  of  the 
sexes  did  not  exist,  however,  in  a  smaller  group 
within  the  club  circle.  Of  this  group  Mrs.  Rune- 
berg writes:  **The  conversation  was  always  ex- 
tremely lively  even  when  it  turned  on  matters 
which  we  women  could  not  discuss  because  we  had 
never  had  the  right  to  get  the  necessary  knowledge 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  29 

about  them  and  therefore  must  sit  as  silent  listen- 
ers. But  the  men  never  considered  that  they  owed 
us  the  insulting  politeness  of  talking  down  to  our 
level.  And  thus  the  conversation  always  proceeded 
with  the  greatest  life  and  interest,  embracing  all 
subjects,  from  the  highest  and  most  profound  to 
the  most  gay  and  piquant  jests.  Such  conversa- 
tion as  there  was  in  this  circle  I  have  never  found 
elsewhere.  There  was  always  fire,  sometimes  in- 
deed of  a  crackling  sort,  but  always  fire.  Now  fire- 
works of  genius  and  wit,  now  seriousness  and  the 
highest  and  deepest  questions  of  life,  now  disputes 
so  eager  that  strangers  who  happened  to  be  pres- 
ent thought  the  speakers  ready  to  tear  each  other's 
hair,  but  usually  ending  in  new  sallies  and  laughter, 
never  in  bad  temper  and  enmity.'' 

The  central  idea  of  this  circle,  the  one  which  gave 
it  its  force  and  inspiration,  was  the  development 
in  Finland  of  a  national  consciousness  and  the 
raising  of  the  material,  the  intellectual  and  the 
spiritual  level  of  the  people.  This  implied  a  gen- 
erous recognition  of  the  natural  rights  of  the 
Finnish-speaking  people,  but  there  was  no  thought 
of  hostility  to  the  Swedish-speaking  population. 
Indeed,  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Satur- 
day Club  spoke  Swedish  as  their  mother  tongue, 
which  was,  indeed,  inevitable,  seeing  that  it  was 
only  among  the  Swedish-speaking  society  that  edu- 
cation was  spread.  '*To  abandon  Swedish  and 
clothe  all  civilization  in  a  Finnish  dress  would  be 
to  return  to  mediaeval  barbarism,"  said  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  circle  of  1842.    It  was  only  at 


30  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

a  later  time  that  the  struggle  between  the  two  lan- 
guages made  itself  acutely  felt. 

The  activities  of  the  club  were  indeed  directed 
not  to  politics,  but  to  literature  and  instruction. 
It  was  felt  that  the  first  condition  for  the  elevation 
of  the  people  was  an  improved  education.  Many 
of  the  club  members  were  professionally  interested 
in  the  subject  and  undertook  to  found  a  school  based 
on  advanced  ideas  of  pedagogy.  The  modern  side 
was  developed  at  the  expense  of  the  classical  and 
newer  methods  of  teaching  were  introduced.  The 
school  was  opened  in  1831  as  the  Helsingfors  Ly- 
ceum, and  played  an  important  part  in  the  renova- 
tion of  the  Finnish  school  system.  Among  the 
early  teachers  there  appear  the  names  of  Runeberg 
and  Snellman.  Uno  Cygnaeus,  the  founder  of  the 
Finnish  folk-school,  was  also  a  member  of  the  Sat- 
urday Club. 

Far  more  important  than  the  Helsingfors  Ly- 
ceum, however,  was  the  foundation  in  1831  of  the 
Finnish  Literature  Society,  **to  propagate  more 
exact  notions  of  the  country  and  its  history,  to 
work  for  the  cultivation  of  the  Finnish  language 
and  to  bring  to  birth  in  this  language  a  literature 
for  both  the  educated  classes  and  the  people.'' 
I  **  Language  being  the  foundation  of  nationality,  a 
national  literature  is  not  possible  without  a  na- 
tional language.''  Its  programme  included  the 
collection  and  publication  of  the  ancient  Finnish 
songs,  the  issuing  of  works  for  the  furtherance  of 
popular  education  and  enlightenment,  and  the  pub- 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  31 

lication  of  a  learned  review.  But  what  really  gave 
rise  to  the  Society  at  this  juncture  was  the  desire  ^ 
of  the  Saturday  Club  to  enable  one  of  its  most  dis- 
tinguished members,  Elias  Lonnrot,  to  continue  his 
publication  of  Finnish  folk-songs.  A  short  notice 
of  this  remarkable  man  cannot  be  omitted  from  any 
account  of  modern  Finland.  For  it  was  the  *'Kal- 
evala,"  more  than  anything  else,  that  gave  its  spir- 
itual inspiration  to  the  National  movement  and  first 
made  Finland  known  to  the  outside  world. 

Elias  Lonnrot  was  born  of  poor  parents  in  1802. 
He  was  interested  in  poetry  from  his  early  child- 
hood, and  when  he  became  a  student  at  Abo  Uni- 
versity he  found  himself  in  the  congenial  society 
of  a  number  of  young  men,  Porthan's  disciples, 
who  were  enthusiastically  collecting  Finnish  folk- 
poetry.  Gottlund  had  recently  uttered  his  famous 
prophecy,  '*If  the  ancient  popular  songs  [of  Fin- 
land] were  collected  and  arranged  as  a  whole,  there 
might  emerge  an  epic,  a  drama  or  something,  out 
of  which  a  new  Homer,  Ossian  or  Niebelungenlied 
might  arise."  These  words  it  was  to  be  Lonnrot 's 
lifework  to  fulfil. 

After  leaving  the  University,  Lonnrot  became  a 
country  physician,  and  as  soon  as  possible  under- 
took his  first  journey  in  search  of  Finnish  runes. 
It  was  the  publication  of  the  songs  thus  acquired 
that  induced  his  friends  of  the  Saturday  Club  to 
form  the  Finnish  Literature  Society.  Not  long 
afterwards  he  became  doctor  at  Kajana,  a  village 
in  the  heart  of  Finland,  of  which  it  was  said  at 
that  time  that  it  had  two  streets:  *' along  one  go 


32  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  pigs,  when  it's  wet;  along  the  other  the  inhab- 
itants, when  it's  fine."  This  was  Lonnrot's  head- 
quarters for  some  twenty  years,  and  from  it  he 
made  his  great  series  of  journeys,  which,  in  1835, 
resulted  in  the  publication  of  the  first  version  of 
the  *^Kalevala,"  and  in  1849  of  a  fuller  version. 
These  journeys  extended  to  the  White  Sea  and 
Archangel,  but  it  was  among  the  Karelian  Finns 
on  either  side  of  the  frontier  between  Eussian  and 
Finland  that  Lonnrot  found  his  finest  material. 

Lonnrot  was  a  man  of  great  physical  prowess—^ 
none  but  a  strong  man  could  have  undertaken  his 
arduous  and  tremendous  journeys.  He  excelled  in 
walking,  ski-ing,  swimming,  rowing  and  sleighing. 
He  was  more  indifferent  to  his  personal  appear- 
ance than  R.  L.  Stevenson  and  had  much  of  the  lat- 
ter's  Bohemian  temperament  and  scorn  for  cere- 
monies. His  adventures  were  innumerable  and  are 
delightful  reading.  It  is  recorded  that  on  his  first 
journey  he  was  dressed  as  a  peasant  with  knap- 
sack and  gun  slung  over  his  back,  a  staff  in  his 
hand,  a  flute  attached  to  his  buttonhole,  and  in  his 
mouth  a  short  pipe.  He  was  taken  for  a  tramp, 
and  when  one  day  he  was  footsore  and  ordered  a 
trap,  the  innkeeper  refused  to  provide  one.  On  a 
later  journey  he  disappeared  from  the  dinner-table 
of  a  Lutheran  pastor  and  was  discovered  transcrib- 
ing the  songs  which  the  old  bath-woman  of  the 
place  was  singing  to  him.  At  one  place  the  peas- 
ants took  him  for  a  wizard  and  refused  him  food, 
upon  which  he  was  able  to  threaten  them  with  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  was  due  about  that  time. 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  33 

His  method  of  working  was  to  induce  any  one  he 
met  to  sing  him  the  songs  they  knew,  which  he  then 
proceeded  to  write  down.  But  he  made  a  special 
point  of  visiting  the  best  runo-singers,  and  has  left 
an  account  of  his  intercourse  with  the  greatest  of 
them,  Arhippa  Perttunnen,  which  deserves  quota- 
tion at  some  length  for  the  light  it  throws  on  the 
nature  of  his  activity.  **The  old  man,''  he  writes, 
'^was  at  that  time  nearly  eighty  years  old.  Never- 
theless he  had  to  an  extraordinary  degree  preserved 
his  memory.  Two  whole  days  and  even  part  of  a 
third  day  he  kept  me  busy  annotating.  He  sang 
his  runos  in  good  order,  without  leaving  any  great 
gaps  between  them,  and  most  of  the  songs  were 
such  as  I  had  not  got  from  others ;  I  doubt,  indeed, 
whether  they  could  now  be  got  at  all  from  any 
other  source.  I  was  therefore  extremely  glad  of 
my  resolve  to  visit  him.  Who  knows  if  I  should 
have  found  him  alive  another  time?  But  if  he  had 
died  a  large  part  of  our  ancient  runos  would  have 
perished  with  him.  The  old  man  was  greatly 
moved  when  he  began  talking  about  his  childhood 
and  his  father,  long  since  dead,  from  whom  he  had 
inherited  his  runos.  *You  ought  to  have  been 
there,'  he  said,  *when  after  sweeping  the  bottom 
with  our  nets  by  the  banks  of  the  Lapukka  we 
rested  by  a  log  fire !  We  had  with  us  a  man  from 
Lapukka  to  lend  us  a  hand.  He  was  a  fine  singer 
too,  but  not  my  father's  like.  All  through  the 
nights  they  sang  by  the  fire,  hand  in  hand,  and 
never  the  same  song  twice.  I  was  a  little  boy  and 
sat  listening,  and  thus  I  learned  my  best  songs. 


34  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

But  I  have  already  forgotten  much.  None  of  my 
sons  will  be  a  singer  after  me,  as  I  was  after  my 
father.  The  old  songs  are  no  longer  loved  as  in 
my  childhood,  when  they  were  heard  at  work  and 
in  idle  hours  in  the  village.  Instead,  the  young 
people  sing  their  own  flippant  songs,  with  which  I 
wouldn't  soil  my  lips.  If  at  that  time  any  one 
like  you  had  looked  for  runos,  he  couldn't  have 
written  down  in  two  weeks  even  those  my  father 
knew." 

A  brief  description  of  the  contents  of  the  **Kale- 
vala"  will  be  given  in  a  later  chapter.^  But  it  may 
be  well  here  to  indicate  Lonnrot's  share  in  the  great 
epic.  He  collected  the  songs  from  the  people,  but, 
having  done  this,  he  altered  them  so  as  to  form  out 
of  a  somewhat  chaotic  mass  a  complete  whole.  In 
some  places  he  cut  down  the  original  song,  in  others 
he  added  to  it ;  in  others,  again,  two  different  songs 
would  be  combined.  Then  the  separate  songs  had 
to  be  fused  into  a  single  great  epic  story,  with  a 
unity  underlying  its  infinite  variety.  The  **Kale- 
vala"  is  the  vision  of  unity  that  arose  in  Lonn- 
rot's  mind  from  the  vast  mass  of  suggestive  data 
furnished  by  the  runic  songs.  He  believed  that  he 
was  only  doing  on  a  larger  scale  what  the  old  min- 
strels had  already  done  on  a  small  one.  ^^I 
thought,"  he  wrote,  **that,  as  no  individual  singer 
could  surpass  me  in  a  knowledge  of  runos,  I  had 
the  same  right  that,  in  my  opinion,  most  of  the 
runo-singers  had  claimed — ^namely,  the  right  to  ar- 

1  Messrs.  Dent  have  published  an  English  translation  by 
W.  Kirby  in  Everyman's  Library,  2  vols. 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  35 

range  the  runes  as  they  sorted  best,  or,  in  the 
words  of  the  folk-song — 

I  myself  began  to  conjure, 
I  myself  commenced  to  sing; 

i.e.  I  considered  myself  to  be  as  good  a  runo-singer 
as  they  were.''  Thus  the  ^^Kalevala,"  while  orig- 
inally true  folk-poetry,  owes  much  of  its  artistic 
form  to  the  genius  of  its  compiler. 

Lonnrot  also  made  a  collection  of  some  seven 
hundred  ancient  songs  and  ballads,  which  were 
published  under  the  title  of  **Kanteletaar"  (The 
Daughter  of  the  Kantele).  Many  of  them  are  of 
great  beauty  and  intimacy  of  feeling,  and  throw 
much  light  on  the  inner  nature  of  the  nation  from 
which  they  sprang.  There  are  songs  for  almost 
every  event  in  life,  whether  gay  or  sorrowful, 
whether  associated  with  childhood,  adolescence,  the 
prime  of  life,  old  age  or  death. 

In  1854  Lonnrot  was  induced,  much  against  his 
will,  to  accept  the  Chair  in  Finnish  which  had  re- 
cently been  established  at  the  University.  As  Pro- 
fessor, his  chief  energy  was  devoted  to  the  fashion- 
ing of  Finnish  into  a  written  language.  When  Pres- 
ident of  the  Finnish  Literature  Society  he  intro- 
duced Finnish  as  its  official  language.  Party  poli- 
tics he  eschewed.  His  views  on  the  language  ques- 
tion were  that  Finnish  ought  to  enjoy  equal  rights 
with  Swedish,  but  he  had  no  desire  to  oppress  Swe- 
dish, holding  that  there  was  room  for  the  two  lan- 
guages side  by  side.    His  object  was  a  united  Fin- 


36  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

land,  and  he  said  characteristically,  at  the  unveiling 
of  Porthan's  statue  in  1864:  ^^It  appears,  to  me  at 
least,  vain  to  speak  of  a  common  Finnish  national 
spirit  so  long  as  by  far  the  greater  part  of  our  coun- 
try's inhabitants  lack,  with  regard  to  their  lan- 
guage, the  advantage  and  rights  possessed  by  the 
minority,  and  as  long  as  this  minority  is  still 
ashamed  of  the  name  Finn,  which  it  consequently 
often  uses  as  a  term  of  insult,  thereby  showing  that 
it  does  not  wish  to  be  counted  among  the  number 
of  the  Finns." 

Lonnrot  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  full  of  energy  and 
love  of  work.  Old  minstrel  that  he  was,  he  retired 
to  the  country  after  eight  years  at  the  University, 
rejoicing  in  his  freedom.  People  constantly  wanted 
to  do  him  honour;  he  as  constantly  tried  to  escape 
it.  He  had  to  come  to  Helsingf ors  to  celebrate  his 
eightieth  birthday  in  1882.  On  being  wished  many 
happy  returns,  he  replied  that  he  really  would  like 
to  live  a  few  more  years  in  order  that  he  might  see 
among  the  students  the  same  spirit  of  unity  that  had 
existed  among  them  sixty  years  earlier.  Two  years 
later  he  died. 

Altogether  he  must  have  been  an  extraordinarily 
lovable  character.  He  was  full  of  tenderness  to  all 
creatures,  and  it  is  said  that  he  would  not  even  kill 
flies,  but  would  carry  them  out  of  his  room  alive, 
for  they  too  needed  the  joy  of  living.  He  had  the 
astounding  simplicity  of  a  really  great  man  and  a 
deeply  rooted  modesty.  One  of  his  latest  utterances 
was  characteristic  of  him:  **I  think  I  have  not  a 
single  enemy  in  the  world.'' 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  37 

The  other  great  literary  force  which  sprang  from 
the  Saturday  Club  was  Johan  Ludvig  Runeberg. 
He  was  born  in  1804  at  Jakobstad  in  Osterbotten, 
the  district  from  which  so  many  of  Finland  ^s  great 
men  have  come,  including  the  poets  Franzen,  Sten- 
back,  and  Topelius.  *^The  Athenians  of  Finland'' 
is  the  proud  title  claimed  for  the  Osterbottnians  by 
one  of  them — and  the  poems  of  Runeberg  in  certain 
aspects  undoubtedly  suggest  the  Greek  view  of  life. 
Runeberg 's  father  was  a  sea-captain,  and  both 
father  and  mother  were  of  Swedish  descent.  Johan 
was  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  six,  three  of  whom 
were  girls.  He  went  to  the  University  of  Abo  in 
1822,  but  owing  to  poverty  was  compelled  to  break 
oif  his  studies  and  take  the  post  of  tutor  to  a  fam- 
ily living  in  the  heart  of  Finland.  Here  he  learned 
Finnish  and  came  to  understand  and  love  the  peas- 
antry. He  returned  to  the  University  in  1826,  and 
after  the  great  fire  at  Abo  the  following  year  re- 
tired to  Pargas,  in  the  beautiful  archipelago  outside 
the  town,  where  he  became  engaged  to  Fredrika 
Tengstrom,  one  of  a  family  honourable  in  Finnish 
history.  His  poetry  ripened  under  a  happy  love  and 
he  issued  his  first  volume  of  lyrical  poems. 

The  following  song  in  praise  of  the  North  is  a 
characteristic  example,  and  happily  reflects  the  pe- 
culiar beauty  of  Finnish  landscape: — • 

From  the  cloudland's  purple-tinted  edge 

The  swan  sank,  calm  and  boon. 
And  settled  by  the  river^s  bank 

And  sang  one  eye  of  June* 


38  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Of  northern  beauty  was  his  song, 

How  happy  is  its  air. 
How  day  forgets  the  whole  night  through 

To  turn  to  slumber  there. 

How  shadows  there  are  deep  and  rich 

Neath  birch  and  alder  tree, 
How  gold-illumined  shines  each  creek. 

Each  cool  wave  of  the  sea. 

How  infinitely  sweet  it  is 
'  A  loved  one  there  to  own. 

How  faithfulness  is  native  there. 
Yearns  to  it  as  to  home. 

So  rang  from  wave  to  wave  his  voice. 

His  simple  song  of  bliss. 
And  soon  he  sought  his  loved  one's  breast 

And  seemed  to  warble  this: — 

"Ah,  what,  love,  if  thy  dream  of  life 

Be  but  a  short-lived  thing! 
Loved  hast  thou  by  our  northern  stream. 

Sung  in  our  northern  spring." 

Huneberg  followed  the  University  to  Helsingf ors 
in  1828  and  married  three  years  later  on  the 
strength  of  a  minor  academic  post.  During  the 
years  in  Helsingf  ors  both  he  and  his  gifted  wife 
were  regular  attendants  at  the  Saturday  Club  meet- 
ings. In  1832  *  ^  The  Elk  Hunters ' '  appeared,  a  long 
poem  in  hexameters  describing  Finnish  peasant  life 
in  the  remote  parts  of  the  country.  A  second  vol- 
ume of  lyrical  poems  appeared  in  1833,  but  his  first 
popular  success  came  three  years  later  with  the  pub- 
lication of  ^'Hanna,''  which,  like  ''The  Elk  Hunt- 
ers,'* is  written  in  hexameters.  It  is  an  idyll  of 
Finnish  country  life  in  midsummer,  the  scene  being 
a  remote  country  parsonage. 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  39 

**The  Elk  Hunters''  is  the  most  important  of  the 
early  poems.  Runeberg's  patriotism  was  fired  by 
the  subject,  as  the  following  passage  concerning  the 
poem's  origin  shows:  *^ Myself  a  descendant  of  the 
colonizing  Swedes,  I  had  imagined  the  Finn  as  being 
inwardly  as  he  had  seemed  to  me  outwardly  when 
he  had  come  from  time  to  time  with  his  wares  to  my 
native  town.  How  different  I  found  him  in  his  own 
home  and  on  a  nearer  view !  A  patriarchal  simplic- 
ity, a  profound  manly  endurance,  an  inborn  clear 
comprehension  of  life's  most  intimate  aspects  were 
characteristics  which  I  discovered  in  him,  and 
which,  alas!  I  have  been  able  to  render  but  poorly 
in  the  descriptions  I  have  attempted." 

Euneberg's  view  of  the  Finnish  peasant  is  admit- 
tedly idealistic,  and  contrasts  greatly  with  the  pic- 
ture we  get  in  such  books  as  Kivi's  *^  Seven  Broth- 
ers." Yet  it  is  true  to  one  side  of  Finnish  char- 
acter, as  Kivi's  description  is  true  to  another  side. 

Although  the  public  was  slow  to  recognize  its 
worth,  the  Saturday  Club  circle  acclaimed  *  *  The  Elk 
Hunters"  as  the  first  great  national  poem  produced 
in  modern  Finland,  and  a  few  years  later  Fredrik 
Cygnaeus  declared  that,  if  the  Finnish  people  were 
to  be  destroyed,  this  poem  and  the  **Kalevala" 
would  be  its  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  from  which 
the  perished  nation  might  be  known. 

Euneberg  was  always  in  financial  difficulties  in 
Helsingfors.  He  edited  the  Morgonhlad  for  some 
time,  but  its  circulation  fell,  owing  to  his  criticisms 
of  the  Swedish  poet  Tegner.  He  was  unable  to  get 
a  good  post  at  the  University,  as  he  was  considered 


40  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

rather  an  advanced  young  man.  His  poems  did  not 
sell.  Finally,  in  1837,  he  applied  for  the  post  of 
teacher  of  Latin  at  Borgd,  a  beautiful  little  town 
on  the  coast  a  few  hours  east  of  Helsingfors.  The 
University  then  made  a  late  effort  to  retain  him,  but 
in  vain.  Henceforth  the  events  in  his  life  were  al- 
most entirely  internal.  Borga  was  his  home  until 
his  death,  in  1877,  and  for  thirty-one  years  he  spent 
his  summers  on  the  same  island  in  the  archipelago 
outside.  He  gave  up  his  school  work  in  1857,  and 
for  the  last  thirteen  years  of  his  life  was  bedridden 
owing  to  the  effects  of  a  stroke. 

In  character  there  were  several  points  of  resem- 
blance between  Euneberg  and  Lonnrot.  Both  men 
were  profoundly  simple.  When  Runeberg  visited 
Sweden  and  was  being  feted,  he  wrote  characteris- 
tically to  his  wife:  **How  I  should  like  to  be  back 
with  you !  I  am  utterly  weary  of  all  the  splendour 
of  the  world,  and  long  for  porridge,  fish,  and  the 
peace  of  Kroksnas."  Professor  Grot,  a  Russian, 
describes  Runeberg's  **open  countenance,  express- 
ing intelligence,  uprightness,  gentleness,  and  an  un- 
shakeable  peace  of  soul.''  The  last  characteristic 
had  also  specially  struck  him  in  Lonnrot.  The  love 
of  sport  and  outdoor  life  was  also  common  to  the 
two.  Runeberg  was  almost  as  enthusiastic  a  fish- 
erman as  a  poet,  while  his  hunting  expeditions 
sometimes  lasted  for  days  at  a  time.  He  was  on 
intimate  terms  with  the  island  population,  and 
shared  his  glass  of  toddy  with  the  hardy  pilots.  It 
was  during  a  hunting  expedition  with  his  youngest 
son  that  his  stroke  disabled  him.    Runeberg  also  re- 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  41 

sembled  Loiinrot  in  his  dislike  for  party  politics, 
into  which  he  steadily  refused  to  be  drawn.  While 
sympathizing  with  the  raising  of  the  Finnish  lan- 
guage, he  disapproved  of  Snellman's  theory  that/ 
Swedish  must  eventually  disappear  from  Finland.! 
He  held  that  nationality  was  ultimately  based,  not 
on  language  but  on  the  land  and  its  historic  tradi- 
tion and  the  common  interests  of  those  living  to- 
gether. 

It  is  a  matter  for  surprise  and  regret  that  Eune- 
berg's  great  poetical  achievement  is  not  more  widely 
known  and  appreciated.  He  wrote  many  other 
works,  including  ^^Nadescha,*'  the  love-story  of  a 
Russian  serf -girl,  and  a  drama  entitled  ^  ^  The  Kings 
at  Salamis,''  but  his  two  finest  poems  are  ^^Fanrik 
Stais  Sagner''  (the  Tales  of  Ensign  Stai),  and 
**King  Fialar."  The  former  work  consists  of  a 
series  of  narrative  poems  describing  incidents  of  the 
great  war  of  1808-9,  when  the  Finns  offered  their 
stubborn  resistance  to  the  armies  of  Russia.  They 
are  impregnated  with  the  atmosphere  of  a  desperate 
war  waged  by  patriots  in  the  snow  and  darkness  of 
a  Finnish  winter.  The  poems  have  left  an  indel- 
ible imprint  on  the  people  of  Finland,  who  feel  that 
one  side  of  their  nature  has  received  in  them  a  defi- 
nite and  final  expression.  Even  a  foreigner  can 
hardly  read  them  without  being  moved  to  tears  by 
their  naive  simplicity,  by  the  sheer  beauty  they  shed 
on  noble  human  striving  and  suffering,  by  the  faith 
and  reverence  with  which  the  poet  handles  the  great 
issues  of  life  and  death  as  if  he  were  at  home 
with  them,  by   the  fiery,  self-sacrificing  patriotism 


42  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

through  which  human  clay  is  transfigured  into 
something  greater  than  itself,  by  the  sublime  hero- 
ism of  simple  and  stupid  men,  by  the  laughter  amid 
the  tears,  by  the  long  suspense  of  inaction  and 
wasted  marches,  by  the  fierce  joy  of  battle  and  slay- 
ing, by  the  calm  of  nobly  encountered  death  and  by 
the  proud  sorrow  of  mothers  who  have  given  their 
sons  for  a  great  cause. 

Runeberg  was  attracted  to  the  subject  for  various 
reasons.  One  of  his  earliest  recollections  was  being 
given  a  ride  on  the  knee  of  Kulneff,  the  famous  Eus- 
sian  cavalry  officer,  whose  good-heartedness  he  cele- 
brates in  one  of  the  poems.  Another  was  the  fa- 
mous occasion  when  he  saw  the  fiery  General  von 
Dobeln  curse  God  and  shake  his  fist  at  heaven  for 
sending  weather  unsuitable  for  his  operations.  In 
later  life,  especially  at  Borga,  he  was  in  touch  with 
many  men  who  had  taken  part  in  the  war,  while  in 
his  student  years  he  had  met  and  been  inspired  by 
the  old  ensign  whose  tales  he  used  as  a  framework 
for  his  narratives.  Perhaps  ** narratives''  is  not  al- 
together the  right  word.  For  in  form  these  poems 
in  which  the  great  memories  of  the  war  find  expres- 
sion are  a  series  of  portraits.  Representatives  of 
all  classes  of  the  Finnish  nation  are  introduced — ^not 
engaged  in  their  ordinary  avocations,  as  in  **The 
Elk  Hunters"  and  other  poems,  but  seen  in  the  light 
of  a  national  crisis.  Military  figures  play  the  chief 
role,  as  is  natural,  and  there  are  fine  portraits  of 
men  of  all  ranks,  from  general  to  private.  But  the 
peasant  men  and  women  are  drawn  with  as  skilled 
a  hand  as  any.    It  is  difficult  to  select  from  such  a 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  43 

rich  harvest,  but  among  the  most  characteristic  is 
that  of  the  girl  whose  lover  played  the  coward. 
When  after  the  battle  the  troops  go  by  and  she  can- 
not see  him,  she  first  thinks  he  is  dead,  but  when  she 
seeks  his  body  on  the  battle-field  and  cannot  find  it 
her  heart  is  broken: — 

When  past  our  door  the  troop  marched  by,  and  I  their  ranks 

had  numbered, 
I  wept  to  think  that  like  a  man  among  the  dead  he  slumbered; 
I  sorrowed,  but  my  grief  was  mild,  it  had  no  bitter  weight, 
I  would  have  lived  a  thousand  years  to  mourn  his  noble  fate. 
O  mother,  I  have  looked  for  him  where'er  the  dead  are  lying ; 
But  none  of  all  the  stricken  bear  his  features  calm  in  dying; 
Now  will  I  live  no  more  on  earth  in  shame  to  sit  and  sigh. 
He  lies  not  there  among  the  dead  and  therefore  I  will  die. 

(,Edmund  Gosse's  translation.') 

Sven  Dufva  is  another  characteristic  peasant 
hero.  He  is  a  good-natured  but  thick-headed  young 
giant,  who  is  willing  to  do  anything  but  does  it  all 
wrong.  He  becomes  a  soldier  and  cannot  learn  his 
drill,  and  when  the  war  breaks  out  the  regiment  dis- 
cuss whether  he  can  go  with  them.  He  settles  it 
by  saying  that  if  he  cannot  go  with  the  others  he 
will  go  alone.  One  day  a  bridge  has  to  be  held  at 
all  costs  by  a  small  troop  of  which  Sven  Dufva  is 
one.  All  but  five  are  killed  and  the  order  to  retreat 
is  given,  but  Sven  is  too  stupid  to  understand  it — 
**he  had  a  bad  head  but  a  good  heart."  Alone,  calm 
and  huge,  with  fixed  bayonet  he  holds  the  bridge 
until  help  comes,  falling  in  the  hour  of  triumph  with 
a  bullet  through  his  breast.  A  wise  bullet,  says  the 
general  sadly ;  it  left  his  head  in  peace,  for  that  was 


44  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

weak  and  poor,  and  went  to  a  better  place,  his  brave 
and  noble  heart. 

Noble  patriotism  has  never  been  more  finely  ex- 
pressed than  in  these  poems,  which  did  for  Finland 
what  certain  of  Wordsworth's  sonnets  did  for  Eng- 
land. Though  more  fiery  in  his  temperament,  Rune- 
berg  recalls  Wordsworth  in  other  respects  also,  not-^ 
ably  in  the  simplicity  of  his  thought  and  language, 
which,  like  Wordsworth's,  sometimes  seems  a  little 
exaggerated,  and  in  his  love  for  and  faithful  de- 
scription of  Nature.  He  also  recalls  the  Greeks, 
which  is  perhaps  the  last  thing  one  would  expect 
of  a  Finnish  poet.  He  does  so  most,  perhaps,  when 
his  poems  treat  of  Finland  in  summer,  when  the  long 
days  and  the  clear,  cloudless  skies  make  the  waters 
of  the  Baltic  seem  the  sisters  of  the  blue  Mediter- 
ranean waters.  He  adds  light  and  brightness  to 
Nature  in  a  spirit  akin  to  Greek  poetry.  His  mind, 
too,  seems  often  to  grasp  human  issues  in  a  Greek 
way.  There  is  something  nobly  Hellenic  in  the 
simple  way  his  Finnish  soldiers  meet  death,  and  his 
people  are  as  responsive  to  the  call  of  patriotism  as 
were  the  inhabitants  of  the  Greek  City-State.  His 
great  poem  **King  Fialar,"  apart  from  the  differ- 
ences of  scene  and  civilization,  might  almost  have 
issued  from  a  Greek  mind,  and  for  all  the  romantic 
beauty  of  its  Ossianic  parts  it  bears  the  Greek  im- 
press of  light  and  brightness.  The  story  describes 
the  Nemesis  which  falls  on  the  lonely  and  unloving 
king,  who,  despising  the  gods,  sacrifices  all  things 
to  the  idea  of  his  own  greatness.  He  is  warned  that 
his  son  and  daughter  will  make  an  incestuous  mar- 


THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  45 

riage,  and  seeks  to  prevent  this  by  having  his  daugh- 
ter drowned.  She  is  rescued,  however,  and  lives  at 
Morven  with  King  Morannal,  whose  three  sons  woo 
her  in  vain.  Then  her  brother  comes  on  a  Viking 
expedition,  falls  in  love  with  her  and  marries  her. 
Only  after  they  have  lived  together  for  some  time 
does  he  discover  that  Oihonna  is  his  sister.  The 
poem  ends  with  the  deaths  of  Oihonna,  King  Fialar 
and  his  son.  Nevertheless,  before  the  end,  the  king 
has  realized  the  wisdom  of  the  gods  and  made  his 
submission  to  the  laws  of  human  life.  Runeberg  de- 
scribed the  poem  as  ^^a  little  epos,  the  subject  of 
which  is  the  greatness  and  grace  of  the  gods,"  and 
Professor  Walfred  Wasenius  well  observes  that  its 
fundamental  thought  is  really,  **If  a  man  does  not 
love  his  brother  whom  he  sees,  how  can  he  love  God 
whom  he  does  not  see?" 

The  form  of  the  poem  is  very  fine,  and  the  skill 
with  which  the  complicated  story  is  worked  out  by 
the  aid  of  purely  natural  agencies  compels  admira- 
tion. What  should  make  it  of  peculiar  interest  to 
British  readers  is  the  fact  that  for  his  description 
of  Oihonna  at  Morven  Runeberg  has  borrowed  from 
Celtic  sources.  It  was  necessary  for  the  story  that 
Oihonna  should  grow  up  among  some  distant  folk, 
and  it  so  happened  that  a  Swedish  translation  of 
Ossian  appeared  in  1842  just  in  time  to  suggest  to 
Runeberg  a  Celtic  setting  for  that  part  of  his  poem. 
The  milder  manners  and  humaner  feelings  of  the 
Celts  afforded  an  excellent  contrast  to  the  harder 
and  harsher  early  Scandinavian  world;  and  Celtic 
legend  and  poem  have  contributed  considerably  to 


46  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

increase  the  loveliness  and  tragic  grandeur  of  Eune- 
berg's  work,  and  to  cast  their  romantic  beauty  on 
the  exquisite  figure  of  Oihonna. 

Euneberg  is  certainly  the  greatest  dynamic  force 
produced  by  modern  Finland  and  has  inevitably  be- 
come a  national  institution.  Nor  could  Finland  have 
a  better  source  of  inspiration.  Splendid  patriotism, 
absolutely  free  from  chauvinism,  breathes  through 
his  work,  which  is  informed,  moreover,  with  a  sane 
and  bracing  view  of  life  and  of  human  destiny,  and 
of  the  relation  between  human  and  Divine.  The  pro- 
duction of  poems  such  as  his,  with  all  they  imply  of 
national  strength  and  nobility  of  aim,  justifies  the 
claim  of  Finland  to  an  independent  national  exist- 
ence at  least  as  much  as  the  documents  signed  by 
successive  Tsars. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE 

THE  Finnish  Nationalist  movement  had  to  pass 
from  the  ideal  stage  in  literature  and  thought 
to  the  practical  stage  in  politics.  In  this  field  its 
great  exponent  was  Johan  Vilhelm  Snellman,  per- 
haps the  most  discussed  personality  in  Finnish  his- 
tory, and  the  one  who  provoked  the  bitterest  hatred 
and  inspired  the  most  reckless  devotion.  Snellman, 
like  Runeberg  and  other  members  of  the  Saturday 
Club,  belonged  to  the  district  of  Osterbotten  and 
was  endowed  with  the  impulsiveness  and  the  rather 
choleric  temperament  which  is  characteristic  of  its 
inhabitants.  He  was  born,  however,  in  Stockholm 
in  1806,  his  father,  a  sea-captain,  having  settled 
there  three  years  earlier.  He  was  the  second  son 
of  a  numerous  family.  The  events  of  1809  forced 
his  parents  to  choose  definitely  between  Finland  and 
Sweden,  and  they  chose  the  former  country,  settling 
at  the  seaport  of  Gamla  Karleby  in  1813.  Although 
poor,  Snellman  was  able  to  study  at  the  University 
of  Abo,  where  he  met  Runeberg,  Lonnrot,  and 
others,  and  with  them  passed  later  to  Helsingf ors, 
where  he  became  an  important  member  of  the  Sat- 
urday Club.  He  was  one  of  the  twenty-eight  Oster- 
bottnian  students  who  in  1834  promised  not  to  leave 

47 


48  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  University  without  having  passed  an  examina- 
tion in  the  Finnish  language — a  promise,  however, 
which  he  failed  to  keep.  In  1835  he  became  a  philos- 
ophy lecturer  at  the  University  and  showed  himself 
an  enthusiastic  Hegelian.  He  early  laid  stress  on 
the  doctrine  that  thehighest  duty  of  the  individual 
is  to  work  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  and  that  if  a 
clash  of  interests  arises  between  the  citizens  and 
society,  the  former  must  voluntarily  give  way  to  the 
latter.  The  doctrine  was  to  have  profound  practical 
consequences.  At  the  same  time  Snellman  was  per- 
petually himself  in  conflict  with  that  part  of  society 
which  was  represented  by  the  University  authori- 
ties, who  regarded  with  the  deepest  disfavour  the 
new  movement  that  was  making  itself  felt  among 
the  students  as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  Satur- 
day Club.  Storm  followed  storm  in  the  University^ 
Snellman  was  forbidden  to  lecture,  and  in  1838  he 
was  suspended  from  his  lectureship  for  six  months. 
He  retired  to  the  country  and  presently  shocked 
Finnish  opinion  by  publishing  three  numbers  of  a 
paper  entitled  The  Spanish  Fly  (Spansha  Flugan), 
the  first  of  his  great  series  of  journalistic  undertak- 
ings. The  Press  was  attacked,  the  exclusiveness  of 
the  University  was  exposed,  and  scathing  criticisms 
of  the  general  condition  of  the  country  abounded. 
After  publishing  the  first  number  Snellman  retired 
to  Stockholm,  where  he  got  in  with  the  ^*  Young 
Sweden"  movement,  wrote  copiously  in  the  news- 
papers and  composed  novels,  besides  finding  time  to 
visit  Germany.  Meanwhile  he  was  working  at  his 
most  famous  book,  Ldran  om  St  at  en  (The  Theory 


1 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  49 

of  the  State),  which  appeared  in  1842  and  contained 
a  development  of  the  Hegelian  ideas  already  re- 
ferred to.  His  thoughts  were  much  with  Finland, 
not  always  hopefully.  ^^The  mass  of  the  people," 
he  writes  to  friends  in  1846,  *4s  from  long- 
established  oppression  turned  only  inwards.  It  may 
possibly  find  fault  with  a  bailiff  or  a  priest,  but 
even  a  provincial  governor  is  a  little  god,  and  a  sen- 
ator a  non  plus  ultra.  The  thought  of  anything  bet- 
ter, an  interest  in  the  commune,  parish,  province  or 
country,  it  has  hardly  ever  had  except  as  a  savage 
has  it — ^i.e.  in  open  war."  To  raise  the  people  is 
impossible  ^*as  long  as  the  language  of  administra- 
tion and  instruction  is  Swedish."  This  the  educated 
classes  cannot  understand,  **and,  if  they  did,  it  is 
against  their  interest  to  work  for  it. ' '  He  concludes 
pessimistically  that  **the  Finnish  nation  is  in  its 
grave. ' ' 

Probably  his  pessimism  was  partly  due  to  the 
contrast  he  found  between  the  poverty  of  Finland 
and  the  old  culture  and  gathered  wealth  of  Sweden 
and  Germany.  At  any  rate,  when  two  years  later 
he  was  practically  promised  a  professorship  of  phi- 
losophy in  Sweden,  where  he  had  already  made  a 
considerable  reputation,  he  refused,  in  order  to  be 
free  to  return  to  his  native  country.  He  meant  to 
put  his  theories  to  the  test.  **One  must  leave  ab- 
stractions and  go  deep  into  facts,"  he  writes.  He 
crossed  to  Finland  in  November,  1842,  but  in  spite 
of  his  friends'  efforts  failed  to  get  an  appointment 
at  the  University  and  had  to  be  content  with  the 
post  of  Head  Master  of  the  High  School  at  Kuopio, 


50  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

a  town  of  some  2,000  to  3,000  inhabitants  in  the  heart 
of  Finland.  In  the  days  before  railways  Kuopio 
was  considerably  isolated,  and  in  the  'forties  only 
enjoyed  one  post  a  week.  But  Snellman  was  a  man 
who  made  circumstances  rather  than  submitted  to 
them.  In  1846  he  founded  there  the  first  Finnish- 
speaking  school  in  the  country,  an  elementary  school 
for  girls.  As  it  proved  successful,  he  established  a 
similar  school  for  boys  soon  afterwards.  He  was, 
moreover,  the  centre  of  a  considerable  intellectual 
circle  in  this  remote  town.  Here,  too,  he  found  a 
wife,  Jeannette  Vennberg,  whom  he  married  in  1845 
and  who  bore  him  six  children. 

What  is  especially  associated  with  the  Kuopio 
days  was  Snellman 's  work  as  a  publicist.  Working 
like  the  engineers  in  a  ship,  remote  and  in  isolation, 
he  was  here  producing  the  motive  force  that  was 
to  carry  on  the  National  movement  to  a  successful 
issue.  Snellman 's  study  at  Kuopio  was  the  prac- 
tical workshop  of  the  movement  in  these  days.  In 
it,  conceptions  which  had  earlier  been  vague  hard- 
ened and  took  definite  form.  His  first  venture  was 
Maamiehen  Ystdvd,  a  weekly  paper  in  Finnish, 
which  aimed  at  spreading  education  among  the 
people.  Before  its  appearance  only  seven  papers 
were  being  issued  in  the  whole  of  Finland,  all  being 
written  in  Swedish.  Far  more  important,  however, 
was  Snellman 's  new  Swedish  paper,  Saima,  which 
first  came  out  in  1845.  It  was  addressed  to  the  up- 
per classes,  and  expounded  week  by  week  Snellman 's 
views  of  the  future  of  Finland.  The  gospel  he 
I   preached  was  the  need  for  a  national  culture  and  a 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  51 

I  national  spirit.  At  present  there  was  neither.  Be- 
/  tween  the  educated  Swedish-speaking  class  and  the 
uneducated  Finnish-speaking  class  there  was  a  great 
gulf  fixed,  which,  if  it  were  not  soon  bridged,  would 
destroy  the  country.  A  house  divided  against  itself 
cannot  offer  a  strong  resistance  in  a  crisis,  and  when 
might  not  a  crisis  arrive  for  Finland?  What  was 
to  be  done?  The  Finnish  race  must  be  elevated,  and 
this  in  turn  involved  the  elevation  of  the  Finnish 
language.  Finnish  must  be  used  equally  with  Swed- 
ish in  the  law-courts,  in  all  branches  of  the  admin- 
istration, and  in  the  schools.  In  a  word,  Finnish 
must  become  a  civilized  language,  and  the  Finns 
must  feel  that  they  had  no  less  an  interest  and  stake 
in  their  country's  fortunes  than  had  the  Swedish- 
speaking  upper  class.  And  this  great  change  must 
be  brought  about  by  that  class  itself  as  a  patriotic 
duty.  It  was  to  urge  this  duty  upon  them  that 
Saima  existed. 

So  far  Snellman  had  not  exceeded  the  programme 
of  many  of  his  contemporaries,  and  he  received  a 
great  deal  of  support  from  the  more  progressive 
Swedish  Finns.  But  he  pushed  his  demands  a  point 
farther,  and  proceeded  to  argue  that  national  unity 
could  not  be  achieved  completely  when  a  nation  had 
I  two  languages,  and  therefore  one  must  look  forward 
■to  the  day  when  Swedish  would  entirely  disappear 
and  make  way  for  Finnish.  And  here  came  in  the 
Hegelian  theory  of  the  duty  of  the  individual  to 
sacrifice  himself  for  the  whole.  The  numerically  in- 
ferior Swedes  were  required  in  the  interest  of  the 
whole  country  to  abandon  their  language  for  that  of 


52  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  Finnish  majority.  It  is  only  fair  to  Snellman 
to  remember  that  he  was  more  moderate  in  his  prac- 
tical proposals  than  in  his  philosophic  theory.  He 
did  not  stand  for  an  immediate  but  for  a  gradual 
introduction  of  Finnish  into  public  life,  and  he  seems 
to  have  expected  that  the  Swedish-speaking  class 
would  consent  to  the  ultimate  abandonment  of  Swed- 
ish as  a  result,  not  of  compulsion,  but  of  convic- 
tion. Eooted  firmly  in  the  belief  of  the  essential 
rightness  of  his  opinions,  he  failed  to  realize  that 
these  would  strike  others  in  a  totally  different  light. 
In  pleading  for  the  necessity  of  raising  the  Finns 
to  a  higher  level  and  putting  their  language  on  an 
equality  with  Swedish,  it  can  hardly  be  disputed  to- 
day that  Snellman  was  absolutely  and  entirely 
right.  With  the  gradual  rise  of  democracies  after 
the  French  Revolution,  it  became  inevitable  that  the 
Finns  also  should  emerge  from  the  state  of  tute- 
lage in  which  they  had  lived  for  so  many  centuries 
and  come  into  line  with  the  democracies  of  West 
Europe.  Moreover,  there  were  reasons  peculiar  to 
Finland  which  made  this  desirable.  The  contention 
that  after  Finland  had  passed  from  Sweden  to  Rus- 
sia in  1809  she  had  no  national  basis,  and  that  this 
constituted  a  serious  danger  to  her  future,  was  a  per- 
fectly just  one.  We  may  repeat  Arvidsson's  dictum 
that  Finland  was  no  longer  Swedish,  she  did  not 
want  to  become  Russian,  and  therefore  the  only  al- 
ternative was  to  become  Finnish.  And  in  order  to 
do  so,  the  great  mass  of  the  population  must  be 
given  an  interest  in  their  country  by  sharing  more 
fully  in  its  duties  and  privileges,  in  the  advantages 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  53 

of  its  education  and  the  responsibilities  of  its  public 
life.  A  hundred  years  ago,  however,  it  was  in- 
evitable that  even  such  a  claim  as  this  should  pro- 
voke the  bitterest  resistance  among  the  majority  of 
the  privileged  class.  To  the  aristocratic  Swede,  liv- 
ing the  life  of  a  country  gentleman,  with  rather  ex- 
clusive traditions  and  conservative  both  by  interest 
and  temperament,  the  talk  of  Finnish  Nationalists 
seemed  at  first  utterly  absurd  and  later  on  almost 
impious.  The  idea  that  the  stolid-looking  and 
rather  unkempt  Finn  who  worked  on  his  estate  and 
spoke  a  barbarous-sounding  language  should  aspire 
to  a  practical  equality  with  a  race  boasting  a  pol- 
ished and  ancient  culture  and  an  honourable  name 
in  history  seemed  preposterous.  Even  to-day 
Swedes  of  the  old  school  sometimes  speak  of  the 
Finns  contemptuously  as  an  inferior  race,  and  a 
century  ago  the  majority  of  the  Swedes  were  of  that 
school.  The  Finns  were  regarded  as  ugly  and 
stupid.  When  they  desired  Finnish  to  be  the  lan- 
guage of  instruction  in  the  schools,  the  Swedes  re- 
plied that  one  simply  could  not  imagine  instruction 
being  conveyed  in  so  gross  a  tongue.  The  idea  of 
a  literature  in  Finnish  seemed  equally  grotesque. 
No  educated  person  would  ever  employ  such  a  lan- 
guage. As  to  Finnish  being  used  as  the  official  lan- 
guage, this  was  pure  madness. 

Nor  were  the  Swedes  altogether  wrong.  Finnish 
really  did  require  to  be  developed  before  it  could 
well  serve  for  these  ends.  When  the  demand  for 
Finnish  as  the  language  of  instruction  first  arose, 
no  Finnish  schoolbooks  were  yet  in  existence,  nor 


54  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

was  the  language  subtle  enough  for  official  use.  It 
had  to  be  remoulded  and  extended  by  the  efforts  of 
the  Finnish  Literature  Society  before  the  dreams  of 
the  early  Nationalists  could  be  realized. 

The  feelings  of  the  Swedes  in  face  of  the  Fenno- 
man  movement  may  perhaps  best  be  realized  if  we 
say  they  felt  themselves  threatened  by  a  barbarian 
invasion.  The  Swedes,  they  considered,  whatever 
their  faults,  had  brought  to  Finland  the  great  gift 
of  civilization.  They  may  not  have  extended  it  high 
and  low  throughout  the  land,  they  may  have  laid 
themselves  open  to  the  charge  of  exclusiveness,  but, 
after  all,  what  more  could  they  have  done?  Their 
numbers  were  small,  and  historical  and  natural  cir- 
cumstances had  rendered  the  pioneer  work  of  civi- 
lization peculiarly  difficult.  They  had  succeeded  in 
erecting  an  edifice  of  Swedish  culture  in  a  barren 
land,  and  if  they  had  not  been  able  to  build  wide 
enough  to  include  the  mass  of  the  Finns  within  its 
sheltering  and  refining  influence,  that  was  not  their 
fault.  And  now  their  edifice  was  to  be  pulled  down 
by  the  Finns,  their  cultivated  flower-garden  was  to 
be  trampled  into  mud  under  the  heels  of  an  invading 
horde  who  neither  possessed  nor  cared  for  culture. 
At  all  costs  the  invaders  must  be  repulsed  or  civili- 
zation would  ^^go  under."  When  the  servants  be- 
come masters,  there  is  an  end  of  the  house.  In  the 
vigorous  newspaper  campaign  which  raged  about 
the  claims  made  for  Finnish  occur  numerous  letters 
illustrating  the  temper  of  the  time.  Thus  some  one, 
jwriting  to  an  Abo  paper  in  1844,  denied  that  Fin- 
^nish  nationality  was  doomed  to  destruction  on  ac- 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  55 

count  of  the  neglect  of  its  language,  customs  and 
institutions.  One  had  a  proof  of  this  in,  e.g.,  the 
Iroquois  and  Chippeways,  Gaels  and  Irish  (one  is 
reminded  of  Lord  Salisbury's  *^ Hottentot''  speech). 
The  advocates  of  Finnish  were  called  **pro- 
Iroquois."  Other  writers  insisted  upon  the  sheer 
impossibility  of  Finnish  as  a  civilized  language. 

It  was  regrettable,  but  perfectly  natural  and  in- 
evitable, that  the  majority  of  the  Swedes  should  be 
unable  to  discern  the  light  and  promise  that  shone 
in  the  National  movement,  and  should  fail  to  realize 
that  the  Finns  were  not  enemies  of  culture  butt 
merely  desired  to  broaden  its  basis  by  themselves 
sharing  in  it.  No  privileged  class  can  ever  contem- 
plate with  satisfaction  the  loss  of  its  privileged  posi- 
tion. But  even  the  more  far-sighted  and  generous- 
minded  minority  which  supported  Snellman's  orig- 
inal contention  was  inclined  to  dispute  his  further 
proposition  that  Swedish  must  eventually  be  re- 
placed by  Finnish.  They  maintained  that  it  was 
ridiculous  to  speak  of  Swedish,  the  language  spoken 
for  centuries  by  a  considerable  part  of  the  popula- 
tion, as  a  foreign  tongue,  and  held  that  Snellman 
was  wrong  in  identifying  ** nation"  with  'lan- 
guage," arguing  that  it  was  perfectly  possible  to 
have  one  nation  speaking  two  different  languages. 
Thus  a  young  man,  Robert  Tengstrom,  wrote  to 
Snellman  deprecating  the  emphasis  laid  by  him  on 
the  necessity  of  making  Finnish  supreme  in  order 
to  attain  his  ideal,  and  asking  with  some  justice 
whether  he,  Castren,  Lonnrot,  Runeberg,  and  Nord- 
strom, all  of  whom  spoke  Swedish,  were  not,  by 


56  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

spreading  culture  and  developing  a  spirit  of  self- 
reliance  and  self-respect  among  the  people,  doing 
more  for  Finnish  nationality  than  all  the  teachers 
of  the  Finnish  language  put  together. 

Snellman  did  not  confine  himself  in  Saima  to  a 
discussion  of  the  language  question.  He  pleaded 
powerfully  for  an  improvement  of  the  Press,  and  set 
an  example  by  himself  dealing  with  all  the  more 
important  questions  of  the  day,  which  had  hitherto 
been  left  almost  entirely  untouched  by  Finnish 
newspapers.  He  advanced  his  views  on  education 
in  all  its  branches,  advocated  the  separation  of  edu- 
cation from  the  control  of  the  Church  and  pleaded 
for  a  higher  education  for  women.  Industrial  and 
commercial  matters  were  also  dealt  with.  A  later 
generation  was  to  adopt  many  of  Snellman 's  ideas 
and  carry  them  out  in  practice.  But  in  the  'forties 
they  were  regarded  with  the  greatest  disfavour. 
Time  after  time  he  got  into  trouble  with  the  censor- 
ship, and  finally  Saima,  after  having  marked  an 
epoch  in  Finnish  history,  was  forced  to  come  to  an 
end  in  December,  1846. 

After  the  suppression  of  Saima,  Snellman  pub- 
lisred  the  far  less  polemical  Litter  at  urhlad.  In  1849 
he  left  Kuopio  and  came  to  Helsingfors.  In  spite 
of  the  difficulty  of  getting  work  there,  owing  to  the 
persecution  to  which  he  was  still  subjected,  he  re- 
sisted the  temptation  to  abandon  Finland.  The 
Chair  of  Philosophy  at  the  University  had  been  can- 
celled since  1852  and  it  was  this  to  which  Snellman 
was  finally  elected.  But  it  was  considered  dangerous 
to  retain  the  name   of  Philosophy.     Accordingly 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  57 

Snellman  became  **  Professor  of  Ethics  and  the  Sys- 
tematization  of  the  Sciences. ' '  He  did  not,  however, 
abandon  his  journalistic  work  and  remained  in  the 
very  thick  of  the  fray,  fighting  for  his  ideals. 

The  moment  of  realization  came  in  1863,  a  great 
year  in  the  history  of  Finland.  In  it  the  Diet  was 
summoned  for  the  first  time  since  1809  and  the  fa- 
mous Imperial  Rescript  was  issued,  which  the  Finns 
regard  as  their  Charter  of  Equality.  This  Rescript 
enacted  that  within  a  period  of  twenty  years  Fin- 
nish should  occupy  a  position  equal  to  that  already 
occupied  by  Swedish  in  public  life.  Alexander  I  had 
already  received  several  deputations  of  Finnish 
peasants  who  brought  petitions  in  favour  of  their 
language,  and  a  committee  appointed  in  Helsingfors 
in  1862  had  reported  that  something  ought  to  be 
done,  without,  however,  fixing  any  date  for  making 
a  change,  a  fact  which  caused  great  dissatisfaction 
among  the  Finns.  Snellman,  who  was  appointed  a 
Senator  in  1863,  went  to  see  the  Emperor,  then  in 
Finland  on  a  tour  of  military  inspection,  put  the  mat- 
ter before  him,  and  the  Rescript  was  the  result. 
Snellman 's  action  has  been  severely  criticized  on  the 
grounds  that  the  settlement  of  such  a  question  by 
Imperial  Rescript  instead  of  by  legislation  created 
a  most  undesirable  precedent.  The  criticism  ap- 
pears to  be  a  just  one.  The  temporizing  of  the 
Swedish  party  must  have  been  excessively  irritating 
to  the  Finns,  but  the  claims  of  the  latter  were  bound 
to  be  conceded  before  long,  and  therefore  the  wis- 
dom of  employing  such  a  dangerous  weapon  seems 
highly  questionable. 


58  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

This  is  not  the  place  to  describe  the  successes  and 
checks  the  Nationalist  movement  had  to  chronicle 
during  the  next  decades.  It  must  suffice  to  say  that 
the  Swedish-speaking  authorities  were  anything  but 
eager  to  carry  out  the  Eescript  and  by  their  con- 
stant obstruction  went  some  way  towards  justifying 
Snellman's  forcing  tactics.  They  succeeded  in  seri- 
ously hampering  the  spread  of  Finnish  schools, 
which  was  effected  only  by  the  self-sacrificing  ef- 
forts of  private  individuals,  who  founded  the 
schools,  made  them  a  success,  and  eventually  com- 
pelled the  State  to  recognize  their  value  and  take 
them  over  or  support  them.  As  the  twenty  years 
named  in  the  Eescript  approached  completion  little 
had  been  done  to  fulfil  its  aim,  and  it  was  not  until 
March,  1886,  that  the  Tsar,  by  another  Imperial  Re- 
script, definitely  secured  for  the  Finnish  language 
the  coveted  position  of  absolute  equality  with 
Swedish. 

At  the  present  day  the  old  relationship  between 
the  Finn  and  the  Swede  has  been  reversed  and  the 
Swedes  are  now  on  the  defensive.  All  along  the 
line  the  Finnish  attack  has  proved  victorious.  A 
Finnish-speaking  educated  class  has  been  brought 
into  existence,  which,  in  virtue  of  the  huge  prepon- 
derance of  the  Finnish-speaking  population,  success- 
fully claims  to  take  an  ever-increasing  share  in  the 
government  and  administration  of  the  country  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  Swedish-speaking  element. 
Similarly  in  trade  and  finance  the  old  Swedish  su- 
premacy has  had  to  yield  to  the  onrush  of  Finnish 
nationalism.      Thus    both    political    and    economic 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  59 

power  are  changing  hands.  Even  racially  fortune 
seems  to  favour  the  Finns,  for  investigations  into 
the  birth-rate  show  that  the  rate  of  increase  among 
them  is  slightly  higher  than  that  among  the  Swedes, 
so  that  the  proportion  of  the  former  to  the  latter  is 
likely  to  become  still  greater. 

The  change  may  be  vividly  realized  by  bearing  in 
mind  three  things.  Firstly,  Helsingfors  was  some 
thirty  years  ago  almost  exclusively  a  Swedish- 
speaking  town,  while  to-day  the  Finns  outnumber 
the  Swedes  there.  Secondly,  when  the  Single  Cham- 
ber Diet  and  Proportional  Representation  were  in- 
troduced in  1906,  the  Swedes,  who  had  previously 
controlled  two  out  of  the  four  Estates,  could  only 
claim  one-eighth  of  the  seats  in  the  new  house. 
Thirdly,  Finnish  schools  now  enormously  outnum- 
ber Swedish  schools,  so  that  coming  generations  are 
likely  to  be  more  Finnish  than  past  ones.  This 
change  is  illustrated  at  the  University.  In  1860 
practically  all  the  students  were  Swedish-speaking, 
whilst  to-day  nearly  three-fourths  of  them  have  Fin- 
nish for  their  mother  tongue. 

It  might  have  been  hoped  that  with  the  full  en- 
franchisement of  the  Finns  the  racial  conflict  would 
die  out.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  Feelings  had  risen 
too  high  to  subside  easily,  and  although  a  portion 
of  both  Swedes  and  Finns  desired  reconciliation,  an- 
other portion  desired  war  to  the  knife.  Many  of  the 
Finns  argue  that  the  Swedes  cannot  possibly  re- 
cover control  of  the  country  and  therefore  should 
be  left  in  peace.  Finnish  must  of  course  be  the  first 
language  of  the  country,  but  they  have  no  objec- 


60  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

tion  to  the  retention  of  Swedish  as  the  second  lan- 
guage, and  desire  co-operation  between  Swede  and 
Finn.  But  others  cling  to  the  view  maintained  by 
Snellman  in  his  most  uncompromising  moments, 
that  the  country  must  have  but  one  language,  and 
that  Finnish.  With  extremists  of  this  party  Swed- 
ish is  synonymous  with  anti-nationalism  and  anti- 
patriotism,  and  some  of  them  even  refuse  to  speak 
Swedish,  though  they  may  know  the  language  per- 
fectly well.  This  party  will  have  no  truckling  with 
Swedish  culture  and  tradition,  seeing  in  it  the  great- 
est hindrance  to  the  development  of  a  truly  Finnish 
culture  and  tradition,  and  regarding  the  Swedes  as 
the  historical  oppressors  of  everything  Finnish  in 
the  past. 

The  Swedes  replied  to  this  attitude  by  drawing 
closer  together  and  forming  organizations  for  self- 
defence.  There  has  been  a  tendency  in  one  party 
among  them  to  withdraw  from  public  life,  where  this 
involves  close  co-operation  with  the  Finns,  and  to 
emphasize  their  kinship  with  Sweden  and  their  dif- 
ferences from  the  Finns. 

It  is  not  our  business  here  to  describe  the  struggle 
in  its  smaller  details.  To  do  so  would  be  the  reverse 
of  pleasant,  because  the  conflict,  like  all  of  its  kind, 
is  full  of  pettiness  and  there  is  much  to  take  excep- 
tion to  in  the  attitude  of  the  extremists  of  either 
party.  Let  it  suffice  to  say  that  whateve;r  may  be 
the  future  of  the  Swedish  Finns — whether,  like  the 
Normans  in  England,  they  abandon  their  mother 
tongue  for  that  of  their  adopted  country,  or  whether 
they  cling  to  it  at  all  costs — they  will  always  be 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  61 

nobly  associated  with  the  past  history  of  Finland. 
This  may  seem  a  hard  saying  to  persons  whose  vi- 
sion under  the  stress  of  conflict  has  been  focused 
too  exclusively  upon  the  evils  of  Swedish  rule  in  the 
past.  Many  evils  may  freely  be  admitted — ^there  has 
been  plenty  of  pride,  exclusiveness,  selfishness.  But 
the  good  that  has  come  to  Finland  from  the 
Swedes  far  outweighs  the  bad.  At  a  time  when 
there  is  a  tendency  unchivalrously  to  throw  over- 
board the  past,  it  may  be  well  before  leaving  the 
subject  briefly  to  summarize  it. 

It  was  from  Sweden  that  the  Finns  received  the 
structure  on  which  their  national  life  is  based — on 
the  religious  side  Christianity,  on  the  political  side 
the  free  institutions  of  the  Scandinavians.  Without 
the  latter  it  is  highly  problematical  whether  Finland 
would  have  been  able  to  offer  her  stout  resistance 
to  Russia  to-day.  In  other  parts  of  Russia  the  Finns 
have  failed  to  show  any  capacity  for  political  co- 
hesion, and  probably  the  crossing  of  Finnish  with 
Scandinavian  characteristics  is  the  essential  differ- 
ence between  Finnish  character  in  Finland  and  out 
of  it.  It  was  the  work  of  the  National  movement  to 
set  the  seal  on  Finnish  liberties  by  extending  the  full 
advantages  of  Swedish  institutions  from  the  priv- 
ileged class  to  the  mass  of  the  nation. 

Nor  should  the  advantages  of  the  Swedish  lan- 
guage be  overlooked.  For  centuries  it  was  the  only 
channel  through  which  culture  came  to  Finland,  and 
even  to-day  it  seems  fully  to  justify  itself  as  the 
country's  second  language.  It  does  indeed  form 
part  of  the  heavy  burden  of  tongues  that  the  unf  or- 


62  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

tunate  Finnish  school-child  is  called  upon  to  bear, 
but  it  brings  with  it  commensurate  benefits.  Not  only 
does  it  open  the  rich  treasures  of  Norwegian,  Swed- 
ish and  Danish  literature  to  him  who  masters  it, 
but  it  infinitely  simplifies  the  Finn's  task  when  he 
comes  to  study  the  chief  languages  of  West  Europe. 
It  makes  easier  in  every  way  the  business  of  com- 
munication between  Finland  and  the  outside  world. 

Again,  the  nation  will  never  forget  the  glory  shed 
upon  it  by  many  illustrious  Swedish  Finns.  For  so 
small  a  population  they  have  produced  a  great  num- 
ber of  remarkable  men.  The  more  chauvinistic  of 
the  Finns  are  fond  of  saying  that  all  the  great  men 
of  Finland,  whether  they  spoke  Swedish  or  not, 
were  really  of  Finnish  origin,  just  as  the  more  chau- 
vinistic of  the  Swedes  are  fond  of  decrying  all 
things  Finnish.  But  even  admitting  the  Finnish 
contention  to  be  partly  true,  the  number  of  remark- 
able men  produced  by  the  Swedish  Finns  remains  a 
large  one. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  well  to  emphasize  two 
great  effects  of  the  racial  struggle,  over  and  above 
the  general  transformation  of  national  life  which 
has  been  the  theme  of  this  chapter.  The  first  is  that 
it  has  brought  into  Finnish  life  a  healthy  element  of 
competition  which,  when  not  carried  to  excess,  has 
greatly  benefited  and  helped  to  develop  the  country. 
The  different  parties  have  not  merely  been  at  war 
with  one  another,  but  have  also  shown  a  noble 
emulation  of  each  other's  achievements.  As  Mr. 
J.  R.  Fisher  writes:  ^^Each  side  was  so  keen  to 
prove  the  advantage  of  its  own  language  that  the 


THE  RACIAL  STRUGGLE  63 

building  of  schools,  the  writing  of  books  and  the 
starting  of  newspapers  received  a  tremendous  im- 
petus which  has  not  yet  spent  itself.''  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  Finland,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
country  is  alive  and  not  asleep.  Nearly  every  citi- 
zen to-day  has  a  wider  interest  than  that  of  the  mere 
home  circle  and  is  identified  with  some  cause  outside 
himself,  and  this  seems  due,  more  than  anything 
else,  to  the  rivalry  of  Finns  and  Swedes.  The  writer 
was  once  complaining  of  the  extravagance  of  fac- 
tion in  Finland  to  an  Englishman  resident  in  Peters- 
burg. The  latter  replied  that  he  would  a  thousand 
times  rather  have  these  signs  of  vigorous  life  than 
the  unhealthy  quiet  of  Russia. 

The  second  effect  is  that  the  racial  struggle  has 
at  times  been  so  bitter  as  to  involve  national  peril. 
Party  has  been  placed  before  country  and  atten- 
tion diverted  from  the  great  issues  of  national  life 
to  factional  quarrels.  This  has  even  sometimes  been 
the  case  since  the  Russian  peril  became  imminent. 
On  the  whole,  however,  the  common  danger  from 
Russia  has  drawn  the  different  parties  together,  and 
there  is  probably  a  greater  degree  of  understanding 
between  them  to-day  than  has  ever  existed  before. 
The  Swedish  and  the  Young  Finnish  parties  formed 
an  alliance  during  the  Bobrikoff  period  under  the 
title  of  the  Constitutional  Party,  and  many  Finns 
who  were  previously  very  anti-Swedish  have  come 
to  realize  that  oppression  of  the  Swedes  would  be 
most  illogical  on  the  part  of  a  race  which  is  itself 
protesting  against  Russian  oppression.  There  are 
a  growing  number  of  clear-sighted  persons  of  every 


64  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

party  who  realize  that  the  time  for  hatred  and  dis- 
union is  over  and  that  an  era  of  reintegration  and 
co-operative  endeavour  is  overdue ;  that  to  persist  in 
carrying  on  internal  quarrels  at  a  time  when  the 
very  existence  of  the  country  is  threatened  by  Rus- 
sia would  be  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  Such  per- 
sons believe  that  for  the  good  of  the  country  the  two 
races  must  work  side  by  side,  each  developing  its 
own  special  qualities  and  respecting  those  of  the 
other.  They  believe  that  the  common  interests  of 
the  parties  infinitely  outnumber  the  points  of  dis- 
agreement. They  are,  in  fact,  the  inheritors  of  the 
best  traditions  of  the  National  movement. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LIFE  IN   HELSINGFOBS 

AHUNDEED  years  ago  Helsingfors  was  a 
mere  village.  Greatness  was  thrust  upon  it 
when  Alexander  I  transferred  the  capital  thither 
from  Abo,  moved  by  the  latter 's  dangerous  prox- 
imity to  Sweden.  The  supremacy  of  Helsingfors 
was  finally  confirmed  by  the  disastrous  fire  at  Abo 
in  1827,  which,  among  other  things,  led  to  the  Uni- 
versity being  re-established  at  a  new  capital.  The 
town  has  since  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds  and 
will  soon  have  a  population  of  200,000,  four  times 
as  great  as  that  of  Abo. 

It  lies  on  a  rocky  peninsula  and  has  three  splendid 
harbours  or  fjords.  Rarely  can  one  view  the  open 
sea  from  the  lower  parts  of  the  town,  on  account 
of  the  multitude  of  rocky  islands  that  give  the  water 
the  effect  of  a  lagoon.  As  one  looks  out  to  sea  there 
appears  to  be  an  unbroken  wall  of  land  enclosing 
the  water,  and  only  as  one  approaches  the  wall  does 
it  break  up  into  separate  isles,  rocky  and  forest- 
clad,  each  with  a  sharp  individuality  of  its  own. 
While  navigation  is  still  open,  on  every  side  one  sees 
boats  and  steamers  brilliantly  white  in  the  sunshine, 
steam-launches  and  motor-boats  plying  between  the 
islands  lying  near  the  town,  the  bellying  sails  of 
fishing  boats  gliding,  exquisitely  graceful,  through 

65 


66  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

narrow  channels,  and  innumerable  rowing-boats, 
as  often  as  not  pulled  by  sturdy  old  women.  One 
gets  the  impression  of  a  semi-aquatic  race,  as  much 
at  home  on  water  as  on  land.  To  appreciate  its 
spirit  Helsingf ors  should  be  approached  by  water. 

The  city  makes  all  the  impression  of  a  captial.  It 
has  spacious  streets  and  is  laid  out  in  a  dignified 
manner.  There  are  fine  parks  and  piazzas,  restau- 
rants and  theatres,  churches  and  public  buildings. 
It  has  also  the  feeling  and  atmosphere  of  a  capital, 
the  cosmopolitanism,  the  gaiety,  the  entertainments, 
the  rush  of  life,  the  rapid  growth,  the  complexity 
of  interest. 

Architecturally  the  town  is  an  extraordinary  mix- 
ture of  styles.  It  was  fortunate  in  its  early  days 
in  being  planned  by  the  talented  German  architect, 
C.  L.  Engel,  who  also  designed  some  fine  classical 
buildings,  such  as  the  University  and  Senate  House, 
of  which  the  city  is  justly  proud.  Some  of  the  prin- 
cipal streets  show  strong  German  influence;  in 
others  Finnish  peasant  architecture  lingers  in  low 
wooden  buildings ;  in  others,  again,  are  striking  ex- 
amples of  modern  Finnish  architecture.  In  the  lat- 
ter it  is  hard  to  decipher  any  definite  style.  Often 
they  are  fantastic  and  seem  to  have  a  touch  of  Asia- 
tie  feeling  in  them,  as  if  the  granite  would  like  to 
break  into  Japanese  or  Chinese  shapes  were  it  only 
more  pliable.  This  bizarre  effect  is  heightened  by 
the  grotesque  heads  with  which  some  of  the  build- 
ings are  ornamented,  and  in  which  the  granite  seems 
to  have  achieved  independent  life  and  to  leer  at  the 
passer-by.    Many  of  the  houses  are  extravagant  and 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  67 

ill-proportioned,  but  a  few  attain  to  a  surprising 
dignity  and  beauty.  Of  most  it  may  be  said  that 
they  are  alive  and  that  the  architect  was  really  aim- 
ing at  something.  The  interiors  of  certain  build- 
ings, notably  several  banks,  are  admirable.  The 
Finnish  architects  also  excel  in  designing  summer 
villas,  of  which  many  enchanting  examples  are 
within  easy  reach  of  Helsingfors. 

One  misses  in  Helsingfors  old  buildings  and  old 
traditions.  Electric  trams,  electric  light,  an  excel- 
lent telephone  service,  beautiful  parks,  do  not  make 
up  for  the  lack  of  historical  associations  such  as 
cling  round  the  ancient  towns  of  Abo,  Viborg,  Bovgk 
and  others,  bringing  with  them  a  sense  of  rest  and 
old-world  peace.  The  most  delightful  and  old-world 
thing  that  exists  in  Helsingfors  is  likely  soon  to  be 
abolished,  namely,  the  open-air  market.  This  is 
held  every  morning  on  a  great  open  space  close  to 
the  quays  of  the  principal  harbour.  On  one  side  of 
you  are  stalls  with  all  kinds  of  produce,  on  the  other 
side  are  boats  from  which  neighbouring  peasants 
sell  fish  and  vegetables.  Here  one  usually  sees  real 
animation  and  colour,  features  too  often  lacking  in 
Finnish  life.  Why  Finnish  artists  do  not  use  the 
beautiful  opportunity  the  Helsingfors  market  offers 
them  I  cannot  understand.  The  market  is  also  asso- 
ciated with  the  good  old  custom  of  the  housewife, 
perhaps  accompanied  by  her  servant,  coming  down 
to  do  her  own  marketing.  It  is  delightful  to  see 
ladies  of  one's  acquaintance  doing  this^  and  one 
looks  forward  with  apprehension  to  the  day  when 
snobbery  will  render  it  no  longer  possible.    The  mar- 


68  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

ket  is  especially  exciting  when  the  autumn  sail- 
fleet  conies  in  to  sell  provisions  for  the  winter. 
Then  one  buys  potatoes,  cabbages  and  carrots  in 
great  quantities  and  kegs  of  salted  fish,  apples  both 
for  cooking  and  eating,  and  usually  also  a  few 
luxuries,  such  as  a  pot  of  honey.  Another  great  day 
in  the  market  is  when  the  ice  breaks  up,  and  one 
fine  morning,  on  the  way  into  town,  one  sees  the 
long  expected  sight  of  masts  and  rigging  along  the 
harbour  quay. 

People  coming  from  Petersburg  justly  commend 
the  cleanness  of  Helsingfors.  They  also  speak  of  it 
as  a  good  and  cheap  place  for  shopping.  This  is, 
however,  an  impression  hardly  shared  by  any  one 
coming  from  England.  Fresh  vegetables  can  only 
be  obtained  in  winter  at  prohibitive  prices,  except- 
ing of  course  the  most  common  vegetables,  such  as 
cabbages  and  carrots.  Meat  is  not  more  expensive 
than  in  England,  but  the  quality  is  very  inferior, 
and  nearly  everything  else  costs  more,  and  often 
double  or  treble  as  much.  The  high  tariff  is  largely 
to  blame.  Tea  which  in  England  costs  Is.  6d.  or  Is. 
8d.  a  pound  is  sold  here  for  6s.  8d.  a  pound.  For  the 
same  reason  one  has  to  pay  at  a  very  high  rate  for 
groceries  of  all  kinds.  Clothes,  again,  are  extremely 
expensive.  Not  only  the  tariff  but  also  high  rents 
make  things  dear.  The  average  rent  per  room  is 
about  £20.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that  Hels- 
ingfors is  growing  fast  and  lies  on  a  not  very  large 
peninsula,  but  also  to  the  violent  speculation  that 
has  been  going  on  in  land  and  building,  forcing 
prices  up.    There  can  be  no  doubt,  also,  that  busi- 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  69 

ness  firms  expect  too  high  profits,  and  the  public 
has  not  yet  awaked  to  the  idea  of  protecting  itself. 

What  with  high  rents  and  high  prices,  Helsingf  ors 
is  not  an  ideal  place  to  keep  house  in  on  a  small  in- 
come. Nor  is  it  freer  than  other  places  from  the 
servant  problem.  The  writer's  own  experience  in 
this  regard  has  been  unusually  fortunate,  he  having 
been  blessed  with  a  peasant  girl  who  has  inspired 
him  with  a  profound  respect  for  the  qualities  and 
capacities  of  her  race  and  class.  Many  people,  how- 
ever, complain  bitterly  of  the  independence  of  their 
servants  and  their  inconvenient  habit  of  staying 
out  till  the  early  hours  of  the  morning.  It  is  true 
that  the  new  wine  of  Social  Democracy  has  rather 
gone  to  the  heads  of  the  servant  class,  but  one  may 
doubt  if  the  fault  is  exclusively  on  one  side.  In 
the  older  houses  the  accommodation  for  servants  is 
often  rather  deficient,  according  to  English  ideas, 
and  servants'  wages  range  lower  than  with  us, 
though  they  are  rising. 

In  spite  of  its  summer  beauty,  Helsingf  ors  is  de- 
signed as  a  winter  town.  All  the  houses  are  pro- 
vided with  double  windows,  and  in  winter  these  are 
fastened  up  with  cotton-wool  and  gummed  paper  to 
keep  out  the  draught.  Only  one  window  in  each 
room  is  left  so  that  it  can  be  opened — sometimes, 
alas!  even  this  exception  is  not  made.  Wood  is 
burned,  there  being  no  coal  supply,  and  the  stoves 
are  of  the  continental  type,  usually  reaching  to  the 
roof.  In  spite  of  the  abundance  of  timber,  wood  is 
dear.  A  high  tribute  is  due  to  the  effectiveness  and 
economy  of  the  Finnish  system  of  heating.    In  spite 


70  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

of.  the  very  low  temperature  in  the  winter,  I  have 
never  suffered  so  little  from  the  cold  as  in  Finland. 
In  November  and  December  the  days  shorten  with 
extraordinary  rapidity,  and  one  seems  to  descend 
into  a  black  bottomless  ditch.  One  longs  for  the  snow 
to  stay,  but  it  usually  falls  and  melts  several  times 
before  Christmas.  Nevertheless  the  sea  is  usually 
frozen  by  the  New  Year,  and  soon  one  begins  to 
ascend  the  ditch  on  the  other  side.  After  the  drear- 
iness of  the  autumn  the  season  of  Christmas  and  the 
New  Year  comes  as  a  great  relief.  There  is  much 
good  cheer,  though  not  of  a  kind  one  is  accustomed 
to  in  England.  The  Christmas  ham  is  a  great  in- 
stitution; it  is  served  on  a  great  dish  encircled  by 
half  a  dozen  dainties,  like  a  big  ship  surrounded  by 
tenders.  Another  and,  to  the  foreigner,  less  pleas- 
ing feature  of  Christams  fare  is  the  so-called  lut- 
fisJc.  It  is  stockfish  prepared  in  some  peculiar  way 
and  accompanied  by  a  mass  of  pepper  and  salt  to 
counteract  its  insipidity  and  sliminess.  But  it  ranks 
as  a  great  delicacy  and  the  taste  can  be  acquired. 
Christmas  is  indelibly  associated  in  Finland  with 
sealing-wax,  as  all  Christmas  parcels  are  fastened 
up  by  means  of  it.  The  Christmas-tree  is  a  sine  qua 
non  for  every  household,  whether  there  are  chil- 
dren or  not.  Often  such  trees  are  quite  small  and 
stand  on  a  table.  For  a  day  or  two  before  Christ- 
mas the  great  square  outside  the  railway  station  is 
a  mass  of  fir-trees  of  all  sizes  and  shapes.  As  they 
are  constantly  being  moved,  one  is  reminded  of 
Macbeth  and  how  Birnam  wood  moved  on  Dun- 
sinane.     Trees  cost  from  fourpence  upwards,  and 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  71 

people  either  carry  them  home  themselves  or  hire 
some  one  else  to  do  so,  or  take  them  home  in  a  sleigh. 
For  days  afterwards  one's  rooms  have  a  delicious 
scent  of  the  forest.  Father  Christmas  is  also  a 
familiar  figure  in  Finland.  In  appearance  he  is  not 
very  unlike  our  own  friend,  but  he  bears  the  name 
Jul-Bocken — i.e..  Yule  Goat.  He  rings  the  house 
bell,  and  on  entering  is  welcomed  with  acclamation. 
He  usually  carries  with  him  a  basket  full  of  presents 
for  the  company.  With  each  present  is  a  little  poem 
or  a  few  lines  of  prose  conveying  compliments  to  the 
person  for  whom  it  is  intended  or  making  fun  of  his 
foibles.  These  the  Yule  Goat  reads  aloud  amid 
shrieks  of  laughter  and  the  person  addressed  comes 
forward  for  his  Christmas-box.  One  can  imagine  a 
Yule  Goat,  filled  with  a  desire  to  reform  people  or  to 
pay  off  old  scores,  telling  some  deadly  home-truths 
to  the  company.  Such  an  one,  however,  is  not  likely 
to  be  chosen  for  the  office. 

When  the  sea  is  frozen  the  real  joys  of  winter 
begin.  The  ice  becomes  the  scene  of  a  vigorous  life. 
Roads  marked  by  fir-trees  are  staked  oiit  on  it  be- 
tween the  town  and  the  neighbouring  islands,  and 
carts,  cabs  and  automobiles  make  a  lively  traffic 
upon  them.  Whole  battalions  of  Russian  soldiers 
may  be  seen  drilling  on  the  vast  white  expanse  of 
snow  and  ice,  whilst  Russian  battleships  are  ice- 
bound in  the  harbour.  One  has  a  delicious  shock  of 
surprise  the  first  time  one  sees  this  life  on  the  frozen 
sea.  With  it,  too,  comes  all  the  joy  of  winter  sport, 
for  which  Helsingfors  is  most  happily  situated.  At 
least  five  great  skating  rinks  are  cleared  in  the  har- 


72  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

bours.  They  are  frequently  flooded  at  night  in 
order  that  the  ice  may  be  smooth  and  glassy,  and 
men  go  round  filling  up  the  cracks  with  water,  as  if 
they  were  oiling  a  machine.  Bands  play  there  of  an 
evening,  and  the  rinks  are  brilliantly  lit  by  electric 
light.  At  this  time  the  spectacle  is  delightful,  but 
the  rinks  are  often  too  crowded  with  small  children 
for  comfort.  One  prefers  to  watch  the  adept  figure- 
skaters  in  the  enclosed  part  of  the  rink.  Had  the 
Greeks  skated,  the  world  would  surely  have  been 
enriched  by  some  wonderful  pieces  of  statuary.  It 
occasionaly  happens  that  the  sea  is  frozen  before 
the  snows  comes.  This  is  the  ideal  time  for  skating, 
for  then  one  is  not  confined  to  a  rink  but  can  range 
at  will  among  the  bays  and  islands  and  enjoy  a 
delicious  sense  of  freedom.  Then,  too,  one  may 
see  people  practising  the  perilous  art  of  sailing  on 
skates. 

Even  more  delightful  than  skating,  on  account  of 
this  very  freedom,  is  ski-ing.  As  Finland  is  not  a 
mountainous  country  the  skis  are  made  in  a  differ- 
ent way  from  those  used  in  Norway  and  Switzer- 
land, being  considerably  longer.  They  are  not  at- 
tached to  the  foot,  which  is  merely  slipped  through 
a  strap,  so  that  in  falling  one's  foot  is  usually  re- 
leased. The  people  of  Helsingfors  are  very  fond  of 
ski-ing  over  the  frozen  sea.  There  is  something 
most  exhilarating  in  going  forward  across  the  vast 
shining  plain  of  snow  and  ice,  with  a  cloudless  sky 
above  one.  Good  ski-runners  can  go  at  a  consider- 
able pace  across  the  level,  and  if  they  find  it  mo- 
notonous can  make  for  some  of  the  numerous  islands 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  73 

for  variety.  But  few  things  call  up  the  sense  of 
infinity  so  strongly  as  leaving  the  islands  behind 
one  and  ski-ing  across  the  open  sea.  Often,  how- 
ever, people  prefer  to  ski  in  the  country,  where  there 
is  a  constant  succession  of  little  hills  and  valleys. 
Here  the  full  beauty  of  winter  woods  becomes  ap- 
parent. This  is  especially  so  if  one  happens  to  go 
on  a  morning  when  every  tiniest  twig  has  been 
rimed.  Then  the  scene  is  like  fairyland  or  recalls 
the  delicate  spray  of  fruit-blossom  in  the  spring. 
But  on  any  clear  day  the  trees  laden  with  snow  are 
a  noble  and  inspiring  sight. 

Tobogganing  is  but  little  indulged  in,  owing  to 
the  absence  of  high  hills,  and  is  practically  con- 
fined to  children,  who  seize  every  available  slope  for 
it.  A  sledge,  usually  containing  a  seat  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  called  a  sparkstotting,  is  used  both  by  chil- 
dren and  grown-ups — ^by  the  latter  for  the  convey- 
ance of  goods.  It  is  propelled  by  pushing  with  one 
foot,  while  the  other  rests  on  one  of  the  runners. 

Most  thrilling  of  all  winter  sports,  however,  is 
ice-yachting.  It  is  not  without  its  dangers.  The 
man  in  charge  seems  to  behave  very  much  as  he 
would  on  board  a  small  sailing-yacht,  but  the  pas- 
senger ^s  experience  is  very  different.  You  lie  flat 
on  your  stomach  and  are  hurled  through  the  air  at 
the  speed  of  an  express  train.  The  scenery  shoots 
past  you  at  a  dizzy  pace.  The  runners  on  either 
side  are  like  the  paws  of  some  huge  animal  and  are 
lifted  high  when  the  wind  is  strong,  descending  on 
the  ice  again  with  a  shattering  crash.  You  rush 
with  fearful  impetus  at  a  rocky  cliff  and,  when  de- 


74  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

struction  seems  certain,  swerve  round  with  the  ease 
of  a  lizard.  At  times  it  feels  as  if  you  were  about 
to  fly,  the  yacht  taking  little  leaps,  like  an  aeroplane 
before  it  leaves  the  ground,  and  seeming  a  creature 
of  the  air  tugging  at  some  restraining  chain. 

A  heavy  price  has  to  be  paid  before  one  passes 
from  winter  to  spring,  April  being  especially  trying. 
All  around  the  ice  and  snow  are  melting,  and  both 
sea  and  land  look  dirty  and  depressing.  The  roads 
are  unspeakable,  except  a  very  few ;  for  although  the 
snow  is  carted  from  the  main  streets  after  each 
snow-fall  and  piled  up  into  a  mountain  in  some  con- 
venient place,  yet  a  thick  pavement  of  ice  and  snow 
always  remains  on  the  road  until  it  melts,  or  is 
broken  up  by  men  with  pickaxes  and  removed  in 
carts.  Moreover,  the  combination  of  sunshine, 
warmth  and  thaw,  coming  after  the  tension  of  a 
Northern  winter,  causes  an  intolerable  feeling  of 
drowsiness  to  afilict  one  and  makes  good  work  ex- 
tremely difficult.  Finally,  however,  spring  emerges, 
like  a  beautiful  butterfly,  shedding  its  dirty  chrys- 
alis. It  is  expected  of  the  winter  that  it  shall  have 
disappeared  by  the  first  of  May.  The  expectation 
is  not  always  fulfilled,  and  snowstorms  have  been 
known  to  mar  the  day,  but,  whatever  the  weather. 
May  Day  is  celebrated  as  the  coming  of  spring. 
The  different  student  choirs  sing  in  the  public 
parks,  speeches  are  delivered,  many  signs  of  carni- 
val are  seen,  and  the  day  is  given  over  to  jollity. 
And  although  from  a  spectacular  point  of  view  the 
festival  is  not  very  striking,  there  can  be  no  two 
opinions  about  the  gaiety  of  the  atmosphere. 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  75 

During  the  winter  months  Helsingfors  enjoys  a 
rich  intellectual  life  and  one  cannot  fail  to  be  struck 
by  the  intellectual  abilities  of  the  Finns  one  meets 
in  society.  Many  distinguished  foreign  scholars  are 
invited  by  the  University  to  give  public  lectures 
every  winter,  and  many  famous  musicians  give  con- 
certs here  on  the  way  to  or  from  Petersburg.  In- 
deed, there  is  almost  a  superfluity  of  good  concerts. 
It  is  pleasant  to  add  that  by  going  to  the  People's 
House  you  can  often  hear  for  sixpence  or  even 
threepence  the  same  concert  which  in  the  University 
Hall  would  cost  half  a  crown  or  four  shillings.  Thus 
the  best  music  can  be  heard  by  the  poorer  people  as 
by  the  rich.  The  theatres  are  well  managed  and 
keep  the  public  in  touch  with  dramatic  movements 
all  over  Europe.  British  plays  are  popular.  A 
large  number  of  Shawns  have  been  produced,  and 
three  of  Galsworthy's,  to  say  nothing  of  Shake- 
speare. The  theatres  are  of  course  repertory  the- 
atres, as  is  usual  on  the  Continent.  All  the  seats  are 
reserved  and  there  is  no  need  to  stand  outside  the 
pit  or  gallery  door  in  the  rain  and  cold,  as  in  Lon- 
don. The  Finnish  Theatre  is  a  fine  building,  with 
better  cloakroom  accommodation  than  most  Lon- 
don theatres. 

In  Helsingfors  one  is  kept  perpetually  aware  of 
the  fact  that  Finland  is  a  country  with  two  lan- 
guages, and,  in  the  official  world,  to  some  extent,  of 
three.  The  street  signs  are  up  in  Finnish,  Swedish 
and  Eussian,  and  each  of  these  languages  is  repre- 
sented by  its  own  theatre.  At  an  opera  performance 
one  sometimes  hears  three  different  languages  from 


76  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  stage,  which  is  disconcerting  until  one  gets  used 
to  it.  Students  at  the  University  have  to  pass  an 
entrance  examination  which  includes  a  knowledge  of 
both  Finnish  and  Swedish.  Shpp  assistants  have 
constantly  to  pass  from  one  language  to  the  other. 
There  are  Finnish  newspapers  and  Swedish  ones. 
Programmes  for  entertainments  of  all  kinds  are 
usually  printed  in  both  languages,  and  so  on. 

Of  Russia  one  is  not  very  much  aware  outwardly, 
except  for  the  presence  of  Russian  warships  and 
Russian  troops.  The  fortress  of  Sveaborg,  on  its 
seven  islands,  on  one  of  which  Dostoyevsky  was  im- 
prisoned, lies  right  opposite  the  town,  guarding  the 
approach  to  it;  the  north  harbour  is  usually  full 
of  Russian  ships  of  various  kinds,  and  the  town 
contains  many  large  barracks.  The  Russian  soldiers 
look  good-natured  men,  rather  down-trodden  and 
not  too  clean  or  well-fed ;  the  best  regiments  are  not 
sent  here,  however.  The  officers  make  a  rather 
pleasant  impression  in  that  there  is  a  complete  lack 
of  ^'side^'  about  them.  Of  the  Russian  officials  in 
Finland,  however,  only  an  optimist  could  speak 
hopefully.  Most  of  them  are  simply  *  *  on  the  make, ' ' 
and  their  chief  function,  apart  from  feathering  their 
nests,  seems  to  be  the  bringing  of  discredit  upon 
the  nation  they  misrepresent.  Between  the  Rus- 
sians and  the  Finns  there  is,  in  these  dark  days,  no 
intercourse. 

If  Russia  is  not  conspicuous  to  the  eye  in  Hels- 
ingfors,  she  is  never  absent  from  the  mind.  She 
is  a  gloomy  background,  casting  a  shadow  upon 
every  gay  thought,  a  pestilential  vapour  poisoning 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  77 

the  country's  life,  a  dark  cloud  that  never  lifts. 
One  can  never  get  right  away  from  the  Russian 
question.  There  is  hardly  a  well-to-do  family  in 
Helsingfors  which  has  not  the  threat  overhanging 
it  that  one  of  its  members  may  not  come  into  con- 
flict with  the  Russian-made  law  and  be  summarily 
incarcerated  in  a  Russian  prison.  It  has  already 
happened  to  many,  and  will  happen  to  many  more 
before  better  days  dawn. 

Society  in  Helsingfors  falls  into  two  main  grooves 
— ^the  Swedish-speaking  people  and  the  Finnish- 
speaking  people.  They  mix  little  and  do  not  speak 
very  nicely  of  each  other.  Both  are  delightful  and 
interesting,  so  long  as  they  keep  off  party  politics, 
when  they  tend  to  become  bitter  and  self-righteous. 
This  is  the  inevitable  aftermath  of  the  racial  strug- 
gle, yet  one  cannot  help  regretting  that  such  nice 
people  should  not  know  each  other  better.  Between 
Swedish  and  Finnish  circles  there  is  not  very  much 
essential  diference ;  that  is  to  say,  one  does  not  find 
radically  different  conceptions  of  life  or  of  values. 
As  regards  externals,  the  Finns  have  copied  in 
most  respects  the  customs  of  the  Swedes.  In  the 
houses  of  the  latter  there  is  apt  to  be  more  wealth, 
refinement  and  formality,  in  the  former  more  dem- 
ons trativeness  and  less  constraint. 

People  in  Finland  are  exteremely  hospitable  and 
entertain  lavishly.  The  usual  hour  for  dinner  is 
five  or  six,  if  one  is  inviting  guests,  otherwise  about 
four.  As  a  rule  the  second  part  of  the  evening  is 
the  most  pleasurable,  as  the  Finns  take  a  long  time 
to  get  warmed  up.    Conversation  is  rarely  broken 


78  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

by  music  or  recitation,  but  a  great  variety  of  foods 
and  drinks  are  handed  round  in  the  course  of  the 
evening.  The  scale  of  these  entertainments  and  the 
toasting  that  goes  on  recall  the  great  banquets  de- 
scribed in  Scandinavian  or  Finnish  sagas,  but  one 
sometimes  would  be  glad  of  the  minstrelsy  which 
broke  the  flow  of  talk  on  those  occasions.  In  spite 
of  Woman's  Suffrage  the  two  sexes  tend  to  form 
groups  separately.  The  groups  once  formed  are  too 
apt  to  become  rigid,  and  there  is  an  opening  for  a 
hostess  who  would  develop  the  art  of  making  her 
guests  change  places  more.  The  system  has  the 
advantage,  however,  that  if  you  have  once  got  into 
an.  interesting  conversation  with  any  one  you  are 
not  so  likely  to  be  interrupted  as  in  England.  No  one 
who  has  been  privileged  to  enjoy  Finnish  hos- 
pitality can  ever  forget  the  warmth  and  generosity 
of  it.  The  same  characteristic  is  beautifully  in- 
stanced in  the  Finnish  habit  of  sending  flowers. 
Flowers  here  are  an  expensive  luxury  and  often 
fade  only  too  rapidly.  One  sometimes  regrets  one's 
friends  spending  their  money  in  such  a  way,  but 
the  feeling  behind  it  is  a  fine  one  and,  as  an  Eng- 
lish-woman once  remarked  to  me,  recalls  the  story 
of  the  alabaster  box  of  precious  ointment. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that,  as  she  develops,  Finland 
is  acquiring  the  vices  as  well  as  the  virtues  of  high 
civilization.  Nearly  everybody  is  anxious  to  be 
modern  and  like  present-day  England,  France  or 
Germany,  which  is  a  little  discouraging  to  persons 
who  love  Finland  as  being  one  of  the  few  European 
countries  which  are  not  like  present-day  England, 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  79 

Prance  or  Germany,  which  is  a  little  discouraging  to 
persons  who  love  Finland  as  being  one  of  the  few 
European  countries  which  are  not  like  present-day 
England,  France  and  Germany.  To  the  writer  it  is 
painful  to  see  the  beginning  of  financial  scandals, 
bankruptcies,  irresponsible  borrowing  and  lending, 
vulgar  extravagance,  snobbery,  living  above  one's 
income,  cocksureness,  put-you-rightness,  and  so  on, 
but  others  welcome  these  symptoms  as  showing  that 
Finland  is  getting  into  line  with  the  Great  Powers. 
The  divorce  between  the  intellectuals  and  Chris- 
tianity is  very  complete  in  Helsingfors,  there  being 
an  absolute  indifferentism  to  religious  questions. 
Among  the  younger  people,  the  attitude  of  con- 
descension and  cocksureness  towards  Christians  is, 
perhaps,  a  little  exaggerated ;  they  give  the  impres- 
sion that  they  have  heard  of  Christians,  but  hardly 
except  to  meet  them  out  of  England  and  museums. 
A  charming  young  lady  whose  opinion  I  asked  con- 
cerning, the  ** Pilgrim's  Progress,"  which  she  had 
read  for  an  examination,  replied,  ^*  Myself,  I  do  not 
like  it,  but  I  think  it  is  very  nice  for  uneducated  peo- 
ple, who  like  to  read  the  Bible,  and  such  books.''  A 
professor,  however,  walking  home  with  the  writer 
after  a  jolly  supper-party,  made  the  striking  admis- 
sion: **We  Finns  are  not  irreligious  because  we  are 
so  broad-minded,  but  because  we  are  so  narrow- 
minded."  However  this  may  be — and  there  are 
special  reasons  why  religion  is  temporarily  at  a  dis- 
count in  Finland — there  is  plenty  of  idealism  in 
other  directions,  such  as  education,  art,  music  and 
patriotism.    If  the  Finns,  justly  proud  of  the  won- 


80  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

derful  progress  they  have  made  in  so  short  a  time, 
are  a  little  inclined  to  exaggerate  the  actual  value 
of  their  achievements  in  some  of  these  fields,  one 
may  well  pardon  them.  For  their  patriotism  is 
usually  of  an  admirable  nature.  They  are  prepared 
to  suffer  for  their  country  in  a  time  of  crisis,  and  in 
normal  times  to  go  on  quietly  and  unostentatiously 
working  for  its  sake.  At  the  Paris  Exhibition  two 
famous  geographers,  a  Frenchman  and  a  Russian, 
were  admiring  a  map  of  Finland.  **Why  is  it  that 
it  is  better  than  the  others  1 ' '  asked  one.  *  *  Because 
every  line  of  it  is  drawn  with  love,''  replied  his 
friend. 

No  one  who  studies  life  in  Finland  can  fail  to 
acquire  a  great  respect  for  the  Finnish  woman.  Her 
capacity  and  energy  compel  it.  Energy,  indeed,  is  a 
quality  which,  in  this  generation,  is  far  more  appar- 
ent among  the  women  than  the  men,  and  it  accounts 
a  great  deal  for  the  Finnish  girPs  success.  This 
energy  has  been  generated  partly  by  the  new  oppor- 
tunities which  have  opened  out  to  women  in  recent 
decades  and  partly  by  the  hard  conditions  of  Fin- 
nish life,  thanks  to  which  the  girls  have  been  brought 
up  to  do  for  themselves  many  things  which  in  other 
countries  are  usually  done  for  them.  They  have 
reaped  the  advantages  of  character  and  will  that 
such  activity  brings  with  it.  I  know  a  girl  of  twen- 
ty-three who  travelled  alone  into  the  heart  of  the 
country  in  midwinter  and  settled  a  builders'  strike 
on  her  father's  property. 

Finnish  girls  are  as  a  rule  anything  but  shy  and 
retiring,  but  their  independence  and  self-sufficiency 


LIFE  IN  HELSINGFORS  81 

rarely  pass  into  blatancy  or  bad  manners.  They 
are  quite  accustomed  to  comradeship  with  men  and 
a  frank  interchange  of  thought,  and  take  such  things 
as  a  simple  matter  of  course,  in  this  respect  enjoy- 
ing a  liberty  which  seems  somewhat  shocking  to  old- 
fashioned  persons  both  in  Finland  and  abroad. 
Both  the  grave  type  and  the  high-spirited  type  are 
common  among  them,  but  the  former  predominates, 
and  is  especially  noticeable  among  those  who  have 
not  travelled.  Going  abroad  often  seems  to  loosen 
the  springs  of  joy  in  the  Finns.  The  outer  appear- 
ance of  gravity  is  frequently  deceptive,  however, 
and  causes  visitors  who  are  not  accustomed  to  the 
phlegm  of  the  Finnish  temperament  to  go  away  with 
a  wrong  impression.  **Do  they  never  laugh  and 
flirt  f  I  once  heard  an  American  lady  say,  in 
pained  indignation.  They  do.  The  fact  is  that  the 
Finns  of  both  sexes  are  usually  very  slow  to  express 
their  feelings.  They  are  capable  of  being  as  up- 
roariously jolly  as  other  people,  but  it  takes  them  a 
long  time  to  get  under  way,  and  you  must  not  hurry 
them.  The  girls  you  see  at  their  jolliest  on  festal 
occasions,  like  Christmas,  when  they  display  a  posi- 
tive genius  for  arranging  amusing  entertainments 
and  an  ingenuity  of  invention  and  a  fund  of  high 
spirits  that  could  not  easily  be  surpassed. 

While  exceptions  are  numerous,  and  will  doubt- 
less become  more  so  as  the  standard  of  living  rises, 
Finnish  girls  are,  on  the  whole,  inclined  to  be  rather 
plain  in  their  features.  There  is,  however,  a  sim- 
plicity and  energy  and  healthfulness  about  them 
which  make  a  far  pleasanter  impression  than  does  a 


82  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

too  passive  and  ornamental  beauty.  They  often  fail 
to  do  themselves  justice  through  not  having  learnt 
the  art  of  dressing.  Simplicity  suits  them,  and  com- 
plex Paris  fashions  do  not  look  well  in  Helsingf ors. 
The  climate  makes  it  difficult  for  people  to  look  ele- 
gant in  winter,  and  it  is  in  their  simple  summer 
dresses  that  the  girls  look  best.  Many  of  them  are 
excellent  sportswomen,  being  adepts  in  ski-ing,  skat- 
ing, sailing,  rowing  and  swimming,  and  it  is  when 
engaged  in  these  pursuits  that  they  are  seen  to  the 
greatest  advantage.  Usually,  like  the  men,  they 
drop  these  activities  at  what  seems  to  an  English- 
man too  early  an  age.  It  is  pleasant  to  add  that 
their  enthusiasm  for  sport  does  not  turn  them  into 
mere  sportswomen,  but  that  they  combine  sport  with 
intellectual  pursuits.  Altogether,  the  Finnish  girl 
who  can  manage  a  sailing-boat,  talk  half  a  dozen 
languages  and  discuss  sensibly  most  subjects  of 
general  interest  is  a  type  of  which  any  country 
might  be  proud. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  COUNTRY-SIDE 

THE  writer's  experience  of  the  country-side  is 
that  of  the  town-dweller  who  retires  to  spend 
the  summer  there.  For  three  months,  beginning 
from  June,  all  who  can  do  so  leave  the  towns.  Water 
is  what  they  make  for,  whether  they  go  to  the  sea- 
side or  to  the  innumerable  islands  around  the  coast 
or  to  the  shores  of  the  great  inland  lakes.  Even 
those  whose  professional  duties  forbid  a  complete 
holiday  usually  live  on  islands  and  only  go  to  town 
for  their  office  hours.  Fleets  of  small  white-painted 
steamers  keep  up  a  lively  communication  between 
the  archipelago  and  the  mainland. 

The  exodus  to  the  country  is  a  considerable  under- 
taking. The  villas  or  rooms  to  which  one  repairs 
are  but  scantily  furnished,  and  a  large  number  of 
one's  household  goods  have  to  be  conveyed  thither. 
It  is  a  house  removal  on  a  small  scale,  in  which  beds 
and  bedding  and  cooking  utensils  figure  largely. 
One  also  takes  a  large  supply  of  groceries  and  other 
edibles,  as  the  fare  obtainable  in  many  country  dis- 
tricts is  very  limited.  Milk  and  eggs  are  nearly 
always  to  be  had,  excellent  and  in  unlimited  quan- 
tities, but  meat  is  by  no  means  so  easily  obtained. 

83 


84  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

One  waits  until  some  one  kills  a  calf  or  a  sheep,  and 
orders  according  to  the  state  of  the  thermometer. 
Fish  one  can  have  if  one  is  fortunate  enough  to 
catch  them,  or  if  one  can  find  peasants  willing  to 
sell  their  own  catch.  For  vegetables  one  is  alloted 
a  cabbage-patch  of  one's  own.  They  come  up  very 
quickly,  owing  to  the  great  length  of  the  summer 
days,  but  it  is  advisable  to  post  on  some  seeds  to  be 
planted  before  one's  arrival  in  the  country.  It  is 
usual  to  bake  one's  own  bread.  Sour  milk,  which  is 
solidified  to  the  degree  of  junket,  is  a  favourite  sum- 
mer dish.  Fruit  abounds  in  the  shape  of  wild  ber- 
ries, but  there  is  usually  little  garden  fruit. 

Summer  in  Finland  is  a  revel  of  beauty.  After 
the  long  grip  of  winter  relaxes,  spring  comes  with  a 
rush,  like  a  wild  creature  set  free  from  a  leash. 
Arriving  in  the  country  in  early  June,  one  is  lifted 
up  on  the  rising  wave  of  the  summer.  If  June  is 
true  to  her  character,  the  sky  and  water  are  deepest 
blue  and  the  sun  is  never  lost  sight  of  except  for  the 
brief  hour  or  two  when  it  is  quenched  by  the  sea. 
This  mystical  interval  is  so  beautiful  that  it  is  hard 
to  turn  from  it  and  sleep.  The  land  is  lovely  with  a 
swiftly  succeeding  pageant  of  lilacs  and  fruit-blos- 
som and  wild  roses,  and  the  hills  are  covered  with 
the  waving  foliage  and  the  white  stems  of  delicate 
birches,  like  dancing  maidens,  and  the  more  mascu- 
line beauty  of  pines  and  firs.  The  rock-strewn 
meadows  are  brilliant  with  wild  flowers. 

The  days  are  spent  simply  enough.  One  may 
begin  by  bathing  from  a  hut  at  the  end  of  the  little 
wooden  pier  which  belongs  to  every  summer  villa. 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  85 

Many  people  bathe  several  times  a  day  in  the  hot 
weather.  No  bathing-dress  is  worn,  and  there  is  no 
mixed  bathing.  It  is  common  for  groups  of  farm- 
labourers  or  of  farm-girls  to  go  down  to  bathe  of  an 
evening,  and  as  one  rows  home  towards  sunset  one 
may  hear  their  cries  and  splashings  borne  for  an 
extraordinary  distance  across  the  water.  Rowing 
may  be  both  work  and  recreation.  At  noon  one  may 
catch  bait  for  the  line  one  will  set  at  night,  and  in 
the  early  morning  one  rows  out  anxiously  to  see 
what  one  has  caught  for  breakfast.  Among  the  com- 
monest fish  are  the  perch  and  the  gadda,  the  latter 
a  kind  of  salt-water  pike.  One  may  also  row  out  to 
watch  the  sun  turn  the  rocks  to  crimson  and  sink 
into  the  rippleless  sea,  or,  again,  for  a  picnic  on  an 
island.  On  one  such  picnic  we  bought  quantities  of 
stromming  (the  Baltic  herring)  from  two  old  fisher- 
men who  might  have  stepped  out  of  the  sagas,  then 
made  a  fire  and  cooked  the  fish  by  stringing  them  on 
twigs  and  holding  them  near  the  flames.  Fish  never 
tasted  so  good  before  or  since. 

Yachting  is  another  favourite  summer  pursuit 
and  a  never-failing  source  of  pleasure  amid  the  belt 
of  islands  around  the  coast,  which  offer  an  infinite 
diversity  of  interest  and  beauty. 

On  land  there  is  one 's  humble  garden  to  attend  to 
and  walking  of  all  kinds — ^walks  to  the  nearest  store 
to  provide  for  household  needs;  walks  of  explora- 
tion through  the  country-side ;  walks  to  farms  to  buy 
butter  and  eggs;  frantic  walks  when  one  is  baking 
and  has  forgotten  the  yeast. 

In  the  course  of  these  walks  one  comes  across 


86  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

many  a  characteristic  Finnish  scene:  cottages,  all 
wooden,  and  often  painted  a  brilliant  red  which 
blazes  in  the  sunshine  and  looks  cheerful  in  the  win- 
ter, nestling  under  rocky  hills  or  lying  close  to  a 
sunny  bay,  with  fishing-nets  stretched  along  the  side 
walls ;  or  peasants  waiting  on  the  wooden  piers  for 
the  uncertain  advent  of  the  little  steamer,  whose 
arrival  is  the  event  of  the  day  or  even  of  the  week ; 
or  a  pine-clad  hill  from  which  one  sees  on  either  side 
an  alternation  of  forest  and  gleaming  water  until  the 
eye  becomes  weary  of  distinguishing  the  successive 
stretches  of  each  and  looks  down  to  the  flower  at 
one's  feet. 

When  it  has  taken  its  fill  of  the  outer  beauties  of 
the  country-side,  the  mind  naturally  turns  to  the 
human  life  that  has  such  a  fair  setting.  And  with- 
out some  realization  of  country  life  anything  like 
a  true  understanding  of  Finland  is  impossible.  For 
agriculture  is  Finland's  staple  industry.  According 
to  a  report  made  in  1901,  over  one  and  a  half  mil- 
lion persons,  or  some  71  per  cent,  of  the  rural  popu- 
lation, were  engaged  in  agriculture  and  its  sub- 
sidiary occupations,  and  this  would  represent  about 
57  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population  at  that  time. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  one  is  the  Finnish 
farm.  The  older  farm  buildings  are  of  unusual  in- 
terest. Like  most  things  in  the  country,  they  are 
made  of  wood.  In  the  earliest  buildings  the  tree 
trunks  are  still  rounded,  only  the  bark  having  been 
removed,  while  in  those  of  a  later  date  the  beams 
have  been  squared.  Inside,  the  walls  are  not 
papered,  and  in  the  gaps  between  the  beams  knives 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  87 

and  saws  and  other  implements  are  placed.  The 
number  of  things  made  of  wood,  and  especially  of 
birch  wood,  is  amazing,  and  includes  shoes,  baskets 
of  all  kinds,  knapsacks,  halters,  brooms  and  brushes. 
In  a  few  old  farms  moreover,  wooden  door-bolts  and 
nails  and  hinges  and  pestles  and  mortars  may  still 
be  seen,  to  say  nothing  of  dishes,  cups  and  saucers. 
Birch  bark  was  formerly  used  in  times  of  scarcity 
to  mix  with  bread. 

Some  of  the  farms,  with  a  laudable  sense  of  tradi- 
tion, have  started  little  museums  in  which  are  stored 
things  of  interest  in  connexion  with  their  history. 
To  see  such  a  museum  is  to  get  a  very  high  idea  of 
human  ingenuity  and  perseverance.  Here  you  may 
trace  the  development  of  agricultural  implements 
from  the  most  primitive  models,  and  see  such  ob- 
jects as  a  harrow  and  plough  entirely  made  of  wood, 
and  primitive  shafts,  ingeniously  constructed  of 
large  branches  that  forked  in  a  convenient  shape. 
The  old  Finnish  farmers  had  a  remarkably  keen  eye 
for  suitably  shaped  pieces  of  timber. 

The  older  houses  were  chimneyless  and  the  smoke 
escaped  out  of  a  hole  in  the  roof.  Consequently  the 
upper  half  of  the  walls  was  stained  a  dark  colour, 
and  when  the  rooms  were  cleaned  the  part  above 
the  smoke-line  was  left  unscrubbed  and  is  clearly 
demarcated  from  the  rest.  Light  came  only  from 
the  fireplace  and  the  pare,  a  long  thin  piece  of  resin- 
ous wood  which  was  fastened  to  the  wall  at  one  end 
and  lit  at  the  other.  But  such  old  houses  are  now 
but  little  used  as  habitations. 

The  outbuildings  are  also  of  great  interest.    They 


88  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

include  houses  for  storing  food  of  all  kinds,  clothes 
and  agricultural  implements.  In  the  old  days,  be- 
fore private  distilling  was  made  illegal,  each  farm 
had  its  own  distillery  also.  Then  there  are  huts  in 
which  old  bachelors  and  old  maids  kept  their  belong- 
ings and  partly  lived,  and  finally  the  cow-houses, 
stables  and  pigsties.  Above  many  of  the  stables  is 
a  loft,  used  as  a  storeroom  in  the  winter  and  a  sleep- 
ing-place for  the  girls  of  the  farm  in  the  summer. 
It  is  reached  by  a  ladder  or  outer  staircase.  Other 
things  that  strike  the  eye  are  the  little  patch  on 
which  the  farmer  formerly  grew  his  own  tobacco, 
the  well  with  its  pine  trunk  for  dipping  the  bucket, 
and  the  fences  formed  by  pieces  of  wood  placed 
slantwise  and  supported  at  intervals  by  posts. 

Most  essential  of  all  the  farm-buildings,  however, 
is  the  bath-house.  It  is  the  first  of  them  all  to  be 
built  and  serves  as  a  home  until  the  dwelling-house 
is  ready.  In  one  corner  is  the  fireplace,  made  of 
great  stones.  Near  the  roof  is  a  broad  shelf  on 
which  the  bathers  lie.  Sometimes  there  is  a  second 
shelf  used  for  malting.  There  is  usually  a  small 
opening,  which  can  be  closed  by  a  sliding  panel, 
through  which  fuel  can  be  thrown  in.  In  some  old 
bath-houses  there  is  a  second  hole,  known  as  the 
wolf -hole,  through  which  the  farmer  in  old  days  kept 
watch  at  night  on  the  wolves  which  might  come 
prowling  around  and  shot  them  if  he  got  the 
chance.  "When  the  time  for  bathing  comes,  the 
stones  are  heated  to  a  very  high  temperature,  hot 
water  is  thrown  on  them  and  the  house  is  filled  with 
steam.    You  soap  yourself,  sit  on  the  shelf,  beat 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  89 

yourself,  or  are  beaten  by  the  old  bath-woman,  with 
birch  twigs,  approach  or  keep  away  from  the  fire- 
place according  to  your  ability  to  stand  intense  heat, 
and,  finally,  red  as  a  tomato,  plunge  into  the  open 
air.  If  it  is  summer  this  is  a  simple  matter,  but  even 
in  winter  the  Finns  run  naked  from  the  bath-house 
to  the  farm,  and  very  often  take  a  roll  in  the  snow 
into  the  bargain. 

The  Finnish  bath  was,  and  still  is,  largely  a 
family  concern,  the  two  sexes  taking  it  in  common 
and  nudity  seeming  to  have  no  terrors  for  them. 
It  is  curious  to  note,  however,  that  when  bathing  in 
sea  or  lake  men  and  women  bathe  separately.  The 
explanation  is,  perhaps,  that  the  bath-house  is  a 
kind  of  temple,  the  bath-woman  its  priestess,  and 
the  bath  of  the  nature  of  a  ritual.  The  church  and 
the  bath-house  are  holy  places,  says  a  Finnish  pro- 
verb. The  place  has  grave  and  lofty  associations  of 
another  kind  also.  It  is  to  the  bath-house  that  the 
mother  retires  when  a  child  is  about  to  be  born,  and 
the  temperature  is  made  as  high  as  possible  in  order 
to  ease  her  delivery ;  to  it,  also,  sick  people  are  taken 
as  to  a  hospital.  There  is  a  Finnish  proverb  to  the 
effect  that  if  the  bath-house  and  brandy  cannot  help 
a  man,  death  is  near  at  hand.  The  bath  is,  more- 
over, a  custom  hallowed  by  great  antiquity.  Livy, 
during  his  exile  among  the  Sarmatians  in  Dacia, 
describes  the  bathing  customs  prevalent  there,  and 
the  description  corresponds  closely  to  the  Finnish 
bath  of  to-day.  Thus  sentiment  allies  itself  with 
custom  in  excluding  from  this  sacrament  of  nudity 
any  idea  of  licence. 


90  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

While  the  Finnish  bath  remains  unchanged,  the 
faims  are  being  considerably  modified.  They  still 
remain  picturesque,  however,  partly  owing  to  the 
excellent  custom  of  staining  the  outside  of  the  newer 
buildings  a  brilliant  red.  And,  in  spite  of  modern 
inventions  and  the  importation  of  agricultural  ma- 
chinery, they  continue  to  be  very  largely  self-sup- 
porting. This  is  partly  due  to  the  difficulties  of 
communication  in  Finland.  Usually  the  farms  lie 
far  apart  and  are  often  separated  by  great  stretches 
of  forest  and  water.  There  is  no  town  at  hand  to 
which  you  can  easily  repair  when  you  want  any- 
thing, so  that  the  country-side  has  had  to  develop 
and  maintain  a  large  number  of  small  industries. 
Not  only  do  country-folk  still  continue  in  many 
parts  to  build  their  own  dwelling-places,  but  they 
also  construct  much  of  the  furniture  in  them  and 
make  many  of  the  implements  used  on  their  farms. 
The  long  winter  evenings  are  the  great  time  for 
such  pursuits.  In  the  old  days  the  household  used 
to  gather  round  the  open  fire,  the  only  source  of 
light  by  which  continuous  work  could  be  done  after 
dusk.  One  can  imagine  the  scene.  Now,  of  course, 
lamps  are  everywhere  used.  The  men  do  a  great 
deal  of  carpentering,  making  buckets,  spoons,  cups, 
baskets,  shafts  for  their  carts,  etc.  What  some  of 
them  can  do  with  the  aid  of  nothing  but  an  axe  is 
astounding,  their  dexterity  with  this  tool  being  de- 
lightful to  watch.  Another  common  tool  is  the  Fin- 
nish knife,  which  every  peasant  carries  at  his  belt; 
it  is  used  for  every  purpose  imaginable,  whether 
good  or  evil.    The  women  do  a  great  deal  of  spin- 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  91 

ning,  weaving,  knitting  and  dyeing.  The  clothes  of 
the  family  are  to  a  great  extent  made  by  them, 
though  of  recent  years  manufactured  stuffs  have 
become  commoner.  It  is  a  delightful  thing  to  see 
the  peasant  women  spinning  and  weaving,  and  their 
work  lasts  better  than  the  manufactured  article. 
Some  of  them  add  to  the  family  earnings  by  selling 
their  productions. 

Nearly  all  the  needs  of  the  peasant  have  to  be  met 
in  the  simple  way  described.  The  women  may  still 
be  seen  making  potato  flour,  and  candles  are  still 
made  at  home,  more  often  than  bought.  Candle- 
making  takes  place  after  the  autumn  slaughtering, 
when  the  dead  animals  are  salted  and  the  spare  fat 
is  put  aside  for  the  purpose.  Naturally  the  candles 
do  not  come  out  quite  as  smooth  and  regular  as 
those  one  purchases  in  shops.  Each  little  village 
or  big  farm  has,  moreover,  its  own  workshop,  to 
which  representatives  of  the  different  handicrafts 
come  annually,  by  appointment,  to  supply  the  needs 
of  the  community.  Then  the  shoemaker  comes  and 
settles  down  in  the  workshop  to  make  as  many  pairs 
of  boots  and  shoes  as  the  people  will  require  for  a 
twelvemonth.  The  harness-maker  comes  and  re- 
pairs old  harness  and  makes  new  sets,  which  will 
have  to  last  till  he  comes  again  a  year  hence,  and 
similarly  with  the  other  craftsmen.  Indeed,  the 
farm  workshop,  which  becomes  in  turn  a  tailor's 
shop,  a  saddler's,  a  cobbler's,  and  half  a  dozen 
other  trades,  is  a  great  feature  of  country  life. 

The  farmers  are  usually  comfortably  off,  have  a 
considerable  degree  of  education  and  culture,  and 


92  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

tend  to  be  conservative.  Their  properties  have 
often  been  held  by  the  family  for  a  great  number  of 
generations.  There  is  among  them  a  considerable 
amount  of  class-consciousness  and  they  have  little 
social  intercourse  with  the  agricultural  labourers. 
Their  farms  are  frequently  very  attractive  and  their 
hospitality  is  most  generous.  The  great  kitchens, 
with  splendidly  polished  copper  kettles  and  utensils, 
are  not  easily  forgotten.  Much  of  the  life  of  the 
house  takes  place  in  the  kitchen,  and  usually  sev- 
eral large  rooms  are  unoccupied  except  in  the  sum- 
mer, when  they  are  let  for  a  very  small  rent  to  town- 
folk  who  come  to  the  country  for  their  holidays. 
Nevertheless,  the  lot  of  the  Finnish  farmer  is  not 
an  easy  one.  The  winter,  as  we  saw,  lasts  from 
about  five  months  in  the  south  to  about  eight  months 
in  the  north  of  Finland,  and  frosts  are  by  no  means 
uncommon  as  late  as  May  and  as  early  as  August. 
Further,  the  greater  part  of  the  land  surface  is, 
and  probably  will  remain,  unsuitable  for  cultivation. 
According  to  the  Agricultural  Eeport  published  in 
1901,  only  8.6  per  cent,  of  the  land  was  cultivated, 
and  nearly  half  of  this  amount  ranks  as  pasture- 
land.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  the 
cultivated  area  can  be  at  least  doubled  or  trebled. 
Moreover,  as  we  saw  in  the  introductory  chapter, 
there  are  many  circumstances  which  modify  the 
harshness  of  the  climate,  and  even  in  the  north, 
where  the  summer  is  shortest,  things  grow  surpris- 
ingly well,  owing  to  the  fact  that  summer  days  are 
so  long  and  light.  The  most  productive  soil  is  the 
clay  land  of  Qsterbotten  and  the  southwest,  where 


Rye 

Corn 

Oats 

48.9 

26.6 

24.5 

40.7 

21-4 

37.9 

33.3 

14.8 

51.9 

THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  93 

rye  grows  excellently.  In  the  interior  sandy  soil 
prevails,  together  with  vast  stretches  of  marsh-land 
and  moor-land.  Wheat  is  but  little  grown,  rye,  corn 
and  oats  being  of  far  greater  importance.  The  fol- 
lowing table  shows  the  relative  harvests  of  these 
three  grains  at  different  periods  during  the  forty- 
five  years  between  1860  and  1905 ; 


1861-5 

1881-5 
1901-5 


Rye  is  grown  up  to  the  66th  degree  of  latitude,  but 
oats  do  not  grow  well  after  the  65th  degree.  The 
decrease  in  rye  is  due  to  its  sensitiveness  to  frost, 
which  caused  farmers  very  large  losses  and  made 
them  look  to  the  rearing  of  cattle  as  a  safer  and 
more  profitable  investment.  This  in  its  turn  led  to 
a  demand  for  more  fodder;  hence  the  large  exten- 
sion of  the  land  under  oats.  A  further  consequence 
was  a  greatly  increased  cultivation  of  hay,  clover, 
turnips  and  also  potatoes.  The  need  of  rye  for 
making  bread  has  been  met  by  importation.  The 
money  value  of  the  harvest  of  1907,  a  representative 
year,  was  estimated  at  162  million  marks,  of  which 
rye  accounted  for  53  millions,  corn  for  19  millions, 
potatoes  and  other  roots  for  34  millions. 

If  we  turn  from  the  growing  of  crops  to  the  rais- 
ing of  cattle,  we  find  that  horned  cattle  and  horses 
are  the  most  important,  and  among  the  former,  cows 
naturally  take  the  first  place.  The  number  of  cows 
rose  from  670,000  in  1865  to  about  1,110,000  in  1907. 


94  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

In  the  latter  year  the  number  of  cows  per  thousand 
inhabitants  was  374.  Mention  is  made  in  another 
chapter  of  the  large  butter  export.  The  number  of 
horses  rose  from  260,000  in  1865  to  about  330,000  in 
1907.  The  horses  are  usually  of  a  light  build  and 
are  very  lively.  They  have  run  successfully  abroad. 
Most  of  the  farm  work  is  done  with  their  aid,  oxen 
being  but  little  used  for  drawing  purposes.  The 
Finns  as  a  rule  treat  their  animals  well.  Sheep  play 
a  decreasing  role  in  Finnish  farming.  In  1907  they 
numbered  about  900,000,  or  rather  less  than  in  1865, 
in  spite  of  the  great  increase  of  Finland's  popula- 
tion since  that  time.  Nor  do  Finnish  farmers  seem 
to  have  realized  the  economic  possibilities  of  the 
pig,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  State  to  induce 
them  to  improve  the  breed.  There  are  great  oppor- 
tunities for  enterprise  in  this  direction.  Bee-keep- 
ing and  poultry  are  also  practised  but  little,  but  the 
prospects  of  both  would  be  excellent  if  more  atten- 
tion were  devoted  to  the  subject. 

The  total  value  of  the  stock  reared  on  Finnish 
farms  in  1907  is  estimated  at  not  less  than  211  mil- 
lion marks. 

There  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  produc- 
tion of  Finnish  farming,  both  in  crops  and  cattle, 
could  be  largely  increased.  In  the  first  place  far 
more  land  could  be  cultivated.  Most  of  the  unculti- 
vated land  consists  of  forests,  but  there  are  also 
great  tracts  of  bog-land,  which  would  provide  good 
soil  for  cultivation  if  they  were  properly  drained,  as 
they  doubtless  will  be  when  sufficient  capital  can  be 
found.    In  the  second  place,  better  methods  of  cul- 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  95 

tivation  could  be  applied.  Until  recent  times  Fin- 
nish agriculture  was  extremely  primitive.  A  wood 
was  burnt  down  and  the  soil  thus  reached  was  culti- 
vated as  long  as  it  repaid  the  labour,  when  the  peas- 
ant proceeded  to  burn  down  a  new  wood  and  repeat 
the  process  of  cultivation.  This  wasteful  method 
is  little  in  use  to-day,  however,  and  the  Government 
has  intervened  with  various  restrictions.  The  old 
rotation  of  crops,  namely,  the  growing  of  grain  on 
two  fields  out  of  three,  still  prevails  largely  through- 
out the  country,  though  in  certain  parts  a  more 
complex  system  has  been  introduced.  The  State  is 
doing  its  best  to  further  agricultural  development. 
The  grant  for  agricultural  purposes  in  1909  was 
over  five  million  marks,  of  which  nearly  two  mil- 
lions was  devoted  to  education  and  one  and  quarter 
millions  to  Farmers'  Associations,  which  latter  are 
private  societies  for  the  spread  of  agricultural 
knowledge,  both  theoretical  and  practical.  Numer- 
ous schools  of  agriculture  exist,  and  the  University 
has  an  agricultural  section  to  which  about  three 
hundred  students  belong.  The  State  has  created 
*  *  The  Institute  for  Agricultural  Experiments  in  Fin- 
land'' on  a  property  near  Helsingfors,  and  supports 
a  society  for  the  draining  of  marsh-land,  which  has 
two  different  establishments  in  the  country.  Four 
agricultural  laboratories  have  been  founded,  besides 
one  at  Hango  for  the  analysis  of  butter.  But  a  list 
of  all  the  agricultural  societies  would  be  as  tedious 
to  the  reader  as  it  is  creditable  to  Finland.  An  in- 
tersting  study  of  State  aid  in  Finland  might  be 
made. 


96 


FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 


Thirdly,  a  great  increase  in  production  would 
probably  take  place  if  the  system  of  land  tenure 
were  altered,  so  that  large  estates  were  broken  up 
and  an  increase  took  place  in  the  number  of  small 
holdings.^ 

Dotted  about  the  country-side  in  most  parts  of 
Finland  one  sees  the  cottages  of  the  agricultural 
labourers.  Their  position  is  in  some  ways  a  curious 
one  and  only  becomes  clear  when  we  have  obtained 

^  We  find  in  the  Agricultural  Eeport  already  quoted  that  the 
proportion  of  land  under  cultivation  in 


Small  estates  (less  than  50  hectares) 
Medium  estates  (50-250  hectares) 
Large  estates  (250-1,000  hectares) 
Very  large  estates  (over  1,000  hectares) 


was  25.1  per  cent. 
"    17.1       " 
"    11.1       " 
"      9.7       " 


In  other  words,  small  properties  are  more  highly  cultivated  than 
large  ones.  The  same  thing  holds  good  of  the  raising  of  cattle. 
Compare  the  following  table  from  the  same  Report — 


Number  of  Animals  per  100  Hectares  op  Cultivated  Land 
IN  Holdings  of — 


Less  than 
3  Hectares 

3-10 
Hectares 

10-25 
Hectares 

25-100 
Hectares 

Over  100 
Hectares 

Horses 

22 

17 

11 

7 

5 

Cows 

128 

55 

37 

26 

24 

Sheep 

110 

57 

39 

22 

6 

Pigs 

21 

11 

7 

4 

3 

Small  holdings  are  advocated  not  only  on  agricultural 
grounds,  but  also  as  a  means  of  redressing  the  economic  griev- 
ances of  large  classes  of  the  country  people. 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  97 

an  idea  of  the  country-side  as  a  whole,  and  of  how 
the  land  is  owned  and  held.  The  greatest  land- 
holder of  all  is  the  State,  which  owns  nearly  40  per 
cent,  of  the  land  surface  of  Finland.  Most  of  the 
State  land,  however,  consists,  as  we  shall  see,  of 
forests,  and  lies  in  the  north  and  east  of  the  coun- 
try. It  may  be  ruled  out  of  account  in  the  present 
connexion.  What  really  concerns  us  is  the  land 
which  is  privately  owned.  First  of  all  there  are  the 
great  estates.  Although  they  number  only  1.4  per 
cent,  of  the  total  number  of  estates,  their  area  is 
nearly  18  per  cent,  of  the  land  privately  owned. 
Most  of  them  are  situated  in  the  centre  of  Finland, 
where  the  land  is  but  thinly  populated  and  little 
cultivated,  or  in  the  south  and  southwest,  where  the 
population  is  comparatively  dense  and  the  land  is 
cultivated  proportionately.  Their  growth  is  ex- 
plained in  two  ways.  Firstly,  even  as  late  as  the 
close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  land  north  of  the  62nd 
degree,  save  for  the  coast,  was  uninhabited,  and  it 
became  the  policy  of  the  Swedish  kings  to  colonize 
North  Finland  with  people  from  the  south.  These 
colonists  maintained  themselves  by  fishing,  hunting, 
and  the  primitive  form  of  agriculture  associated 
with  the  burning  down  of  forests.  They  therefore 
required  very  lage  areas  of  land,  and  as  there  was 
in  early  times  no  lack  of  it,  the  State  allowed  them 
to  acquire  as  much  as  they  liked,  free  of  cost.  Sec- 
ondly, during  the  nineteenth  century  rich  men 
bought  up  small  estates,  especially  in  South  Fin- 
land, and  converted  them  into  large  ones,  while  in 
the  north,  centre  and  east  speculators  and  saw- 


98  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

mill  companies  bought  up  enormous  tracts  of  forest 
land  at  low  prices  from  the  peasants,  who  sometimes 
were  not  fully  aware  of  their  value. 

The  life  of  the  wealthy  landowners  is  similar  to 
that  lived  on  great  estates  all  over  the  world.  The 
houses  are  usually  large  wooden  structures  with 
spacious  and  airy  rooms  and  plenty  of  verandas. 
They  are  specially  designed  as  summer  residences. 
The  gardens  are  not  comparable  with  English  gar- 
dens, but  have  a  wild  beauty  of  their  own  derived 
from  their  close  relationship  with  uncultivated 
Nature.  Little  game  is  reared,  and  altogether  sport 
plays  a  smaller  part  than  in  the  life  of  English 
gentry.  The  estate  is  usually  within  easy  reach  of 
its  own  farm,  which  provides  it  with  most  of  the 
necessaries  of  life.  The  relationship  between  the 
landowner  and  the  tenants  varies  a  great  deal;  in 
some  cases  it  still  seems  quite  patriarchal. 

The  agricultural  labourers  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes,  according  to  whether  they  hold  land  as 
tenants  or  have  no  access  to  the  land  at  all.  The 
former  are  usually  known  as  torpare.  The  system 
which  produced  them  was  in  origin  as  follows.  The 
larger  landowners  found  their  arable  land  separated 
by  natural  causes  into  a  patch  here  and  a  patch 
there,  with  lakes  and  stretches  of  forest  lying  in  be- 
tween. It  was  consequently  difficult  for  a  single 
man  to  superintend  their  cultivation,  and  holdings 
were  let  out  to  tenants  {torpare),  vJho  usually  paid 
their  rent,  not  in  money,  a  scarce  commodity,  but 
by  doing  so  many  days'  work  per  annum  on  the 
landlord's  own  farm.    The  position  of  the  torpare 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  99 

naturally  varies  considerably,  and  the  system  is  far 
more  developed  in  some  parts  of  the  country  than  in 
others.  It  has  many  drawbacks.  The  principal 
claim  of  the  torpare,  taken  up  by  the  Socialist  party, 
is  that  landowners  must  either  cultivate  their  land 
themselves  or  let  others  cultivate  it  on  legally  estab- 
lished conditions,  and  that  no  land  must  be  left  idle 
while  there  is  any  one  who  desires  to  cultivate  it.  It 
is  maintained  that  it  would  not  only  enormously 
benefit  the  torpare  themselves,  but  that  it  would  go 
far  towards  providing  land  for  the  very  large  land- 
less population;  that  it  would  increase  the  total 
wealth  of  the  country  and  do  away  with  the  necessity 
which  exists  to-day  of  importing  food  on  a  large 
scale ;  that  it  would  benefit  not  only  the  country  but 
also  the  town  population,  whose  position  is  at  pres- 
ent threatened  by  the  influx  of  masses  of  unem- 
ployed persons,  attracted  thither  from  the  country 
by  the  hope  of  high  wages,  finally,  that  it  would  de- 
crease emigration,  which  has  in  recent  years  as- 
sumed large  proportions. 

An  important  law  of  1909  provides  for  a  tenure 
of  from  fifty  years  (minimum)  to  one  hundred  years 
(maximum),  and  secures  to  the  tenant  adequate 
compensation  for  the  improvements  carried  out  by 
him  during  his  tenure.  These  concessions  are  far 
from  satisfying  the  torpare,  but  are  admitted  by 
them  to  be  a  great  improvement  on  the  old  system. 
But  there  are  difficulties  from  the  side  of  the  land- 
lords, who  are  dissatisfied  with  the  fifty  years' 
leases,  and  often  prefer,  therefore,  not  to  contract 
with  their  torpare  for  a  new  lease,  but  either  to  sell 


100  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  land  or  work  it  themselves.  This  may  easily- 
lead  to  a  further  increase  of  the  landless  population. 
It  seems  clear,  therefore,  that  the  law  of  1909  does 
not  provide  a  permanent  solution,  and  that  the 
problem  has  still  to  be  faced. 

Finally  we  come  to  the  agricultural  labourer  who 
has  no  land  to  cultivate  at  all  and  is  unable  to  get 
any.  This  class  has  increased  very  rapidly  during 
the  last  few  decades,  on  account  both  of  the  general 
growth  of  the  population  and  of  the  rising  value  of 
timber,  two  circumstances  which  have  sent  up  the 
value  of  land. 

The  landless  population  accounts  for  no  less  than 
43  per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  of  Finland,  and  but 
few  of  these  can  find  an  outlet  in  industry,  which 
plays  but  a  small  part  in  the  country-side.  They 
live  mainly  as  agricultural  labourers  and  by  work- 
ing in  the  forests,  much  of  their  employment  being 
casual.  It  is  from  this  class  that  most  of  the  emi- 
grants come,  and  they  form  the  chief  contingent  of 
the  country  people  who  stream  into  the  towns. 

The  general  situation  in  the  country-side  as  re- 
gards landholding  is  summarized  in  the  following 
table  from  the  report  of  1901  already  referred  to: 

Households  owning  their  holdings     . . .     110,629  or  23  per  cent. 
"          renting    "          "               ...     160,525  "  34       " 
"  without  any  land    206,988  "  43       " 

The  poorer  peasants,  like  the  farmers,  are  very 
hospitable,  and  there  is  something  of  the  grand 
seigneur  in  the  simple  and  dignified  way  they  enter- 
tain one.  Their  usual  mode  of  living,  however,  is 
simple  in  the  extreme.    They  eat  mostly  rye  bread, 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  .'  /./.,        101 

porridge,  salt  fish  and  meat,  potatoes  and  curdled 
milk,  and  their  usual  drink  is  coffee.  Alcohol  is 
rarely  obtainable  in  the  country,  but  smoking  is  very 
largely  indulged  in.  Among  the  poorest  people  the 
housing  conditions  are  often  very  bad.  The  cot- 
tages I  have  seen  often  seemed  stuffy  and  dirty,  and 
there  was  a  lamentable  failure  to  appreciate  the 
advantages  of  fresh  air  and  light.  A  lack  of  energy 
and  hopefulness  characterized  many  of  the  men  and 
women,  while  the  children  were  often  pasty-faced 
and  thin.  The  latter  looked  as  if  they  required  more 
air  and  better  food,  the  former  as  if  they  needed 
some  one  to  give  them  a  lead. 

Not  only  is  the  air  in  the  houses  often  extremely 
stuffy,  but  there  is  much  overcrowding.  This  is 
partly  due  to  failure  of  the  landlords  to  provide 
proper  accommodation,  but  partly  also  to  a  genuine 
preference  of  the  peasants  for  the  cosiness  of  living 
all  together,  many  of  those  who  actually  have,  or 
could  afford,  greater  space  not  caring  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  possibility.  In  former  times  it  was 
the  custom  to  build  a  house  as  one  large  room,  with 
a  hole  in  the  roof  through  which  the  smoke  could 
ascend.  In  this  room  all  the  varied  life  of  the  house- 
hold took  place,  and  the  hole  in  the  roof  kept  the 
air  sweet  and  fresh.  Nowadays  houses  are  built 
with  separate  rooms,  and  sometimes  with  windows 
that  cannot  be  opened  and  with  stoves  instead  of 
open  fireplaces.  In  the  absence  of  fresh  air  con- 
sumption results.  The  disease  increases  and  sana- 
toria are  built  to  combat  it,  but  until  people  live 
more  healthily,  the  disease  will  prevail. 


103  FINIiAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

These  remarks  will  fail  of  their  purpose,  however, 
if  they  give  the  impression  of  the  Finnish  peasants 
as  being  sickly  people.  They  are,  as  a  rule,  remark- 
ably strong  and  sturdy,  although  one  cannot  help 
feeling  that  if  they  had  more  fresh  air  in  their 
houses,  and  did  not  live  so  much  on  salted  food,  they 
would  be  still  stronger  and  sturdier.  Through  the 
long  battle  with  adverse  conditions  they  have  ac- 
quired some  of  the  best  qualities  of  the  Scotch,  in- 
cluding a  remarkable  tenacity,  endurance  and  thrift. 
This  is,  among  the  best  of  them,  combined  with  a 
faith  in  God  which  has  stood  them  in  good  stead  in 
their  exceptionally  hard  struggle  against  the  in- 
tractable forces  of  Nature.  Runeberg  has  expressed 
this  side  of  their  nature  admirably  in  the  following 
poem.    **The  Peasant  Paavo"^: — 

High,  among  the  moors  of  Saarijarvi, 

On  his  frosty  farm,  lived  peasant  Paavo, 

Diligently  managing  his  farming. 

But  his  fruits  he  from  the  Lord  expected. 

There  he  dwelt  in  peace  with  wife  and  children; 

Earned  for  them  their  bread,  a  scanty  living; 

Dug  his  ditches,  ploughed  his  fields  and  sowed  them. 

Springtime  came,  and  from  the  sprouting  corn-plot. 
Half  the  crops  went  off  with  melting  snow-drifts: 
Summer  camq  and  then  the  pelting  showers 
Beat  the  ears  to  earth — ^just  half  the  harvest; 
Autumn  came — the  frost  took  the  remainder. 

Paavo's  wife  now  tore  her  hair,  lamenting: 
"Paavo,  Paavo,  thou  ill-fated  husband! 


^  I  have  taken  the  translation  appearing  in  Finland — an  Mng^ 
lish  Journal  devoted  to  the  Cause  of  the  Finnish  People,  some 
numbers  of  which  appeared  in  1899  and  1900. 


THE  COUNTRY-SIDE  103 

Seize  thy  staff,  the  Lord  hath  us  forsaken; 
Begging  bread  is  hard,  but  worse  is  dying  I" 
Paavo  grasped  his  spouse's  hand  and  uttered: 
"The  Lord  is  trying  us,  and  not  forsaking. 
Thou  must  mix  with  bark  our  bread  together; 
Ditches  I  will  dig  in  double  numbers; 
Erom  the  Lord  will  I  expect  a  blessing." 

So  she  mixed  with  bark  their  bread  together; 
Ditches  dug  he  then  in  double  numbers ; 
Sold  his  flocks,  and  buying  grain  he  sowed  it. 

Springtime  came,  and  from  the  sprouting  corn-fields 
Nothing  floated  off  with  melting  snow-drifts ; 
Summer  came  and  now  the  pelting  showers 
Beat  the  ears  to  earth — just  half  the  harvest; 
Autumn  came — the  frost  took  the  remainder. 

Paavo's  wife  then  beat  her  breast,  lamenting: 
"Paavo,  Paavo,  thou  ill-fated  husband! 
Let  us  die,  the  Lord  hath  us  forsaken! 
Death  is  hard,  but  ten  times  worse  is  living  I'' 
Paavo  grasped  his  spouse's  hand  and  uttered : 
"The  Lord  is  trying  us,  and  not  forsaking. 
Twice  as  much  of  bark  thou  must  be  mixing 
With  the  bread;  I'll  dig  as  many  ditches. 
Prom  the  Lord  do  I  expect  a  blessing." 

Twice  as  much  of  bark  the  wife  now  mixed 
With  the  bread;  he  dug  as  many  ditches; 
Sold  his  kine,  and  buying  corn  he  sowed  it. 

Springtime  came,  and  from  the  sprouting  corn-field 
Nothing  floated  off  with  melting  snow-drifts ; 
Summer  came  and  now  the  pelting  showers 
Beat  no  ears  to  earth  in  ripening  corn-fields; 
Autumn  came — the  frost,  no  more  destroying. 
Left  the  golden  crops  to  greet  the  reaper. 

Peasant  Paavo  bowed  the  knee,  and  uttered: 
"The  Lord  hath  tried  us  only,  not  forsaken," 


104  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

And  his  wife  knelt  down,  and  murmured  with  him ; 
"The  Lord  hath  tried  us  only,  not  forsaken/' 
And  with  joy  spoke  she  unto  her  husband : 
"Paavo,  Paavo,  seize  thy  scythe,  rejoicing; 
It  is  time  to  live  a  life  of  gladness. 
It  is  time  to  leave  the  bark  for  ever, 
And  to  make  our  bread  of  pure  corn  only/''' 
Paavo  grasped  his  spouse^s  hand  and  uttered: 
"O     Woman,  no  one  bears  his  trials  so  calmly 
As  the  man  who  ne'er  forsakes  his  brother; 
Twice  as  much  of  bark  with  bread  then  mix  thou. 
For  frost-bitten  stands  our  neighbour's  cornfield." 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOME    COUNTRY-SIDE    MANNERS,    CUSTOMS    AND    BELIEFS 

WE  should  be  making  a  mistake  if,  relying  on 
our  impressions  when  travelling  through 
the  country,  we  condoled  overmuch  with  the  Finnish 
peasant  on  the  loneliness  and  monotony  of  his  life. 
He  has  interests  and  resources  of  which  we  towns- 
folk know  nothing.  His  inner  life  is  far  richer  than 
we  suspect.  He  reads  Nature  **as  a  scholar  who 
reads  a  book'*  and  sees  things  in  her  which  to  us 
are  quite  hidden.  He  has  the  freedom  of  the  lakes 
and  forests — a  freedom  only  to  be  won  by  a  life 
lived  among  them.  He  has  the  peasant's  profound 
interest  in  all  the  works  of  Nature  around  him,  in  all 
the  simple  and  necessary  processes  of  life  as  lived 
in  the  days  before  towns  were.  He  has  the  lore  of 
the  hunter  and  the  trapper.  At  the  very  gate  of  his 
farm  or  holding  lies  the  forest,  still  teeming  with  a 
life  of  which  town-dwellers  have  lost  the  secret,  still 
teeming,  moreover,  with  animal  and  bird  life.  Eng- 
land may  have  been  something  like  it  in  the  days 
when  it  was  covered  with  forests  and  a  price  was 
paid  for  every  wolf -skin.  To-day  the  wolf  is  but 
little  seen  in  Finland,  only  coming  in  the  winter  and 
returning  to  Russia  with  the  approach  of  summer. 

105 


106  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Nevertheless,  it  is  not  so  long  ago  that  the  peasants 
still  constructed  wolf -traps.  A  deep  pit  was  dug  and 
covered  with  fir  branches,  and  in  the  middle  was 
erected  a  pole  to  which  was  attached  a  cage  contain- 
ing a  duck.  The  wolf  jumped  to  seize  the  duck  and 
fell  into  the  pit.  Sometimes  two  or  three  were 
caught  in  a  single  night.  The  bear,  like  the  wolf, 
is  disappearing  from  Finland.  He  rarely  molests 
the  peasants  unless  he  is  first  disturbed,  and  one 
could  wish  that  he  were  left  alone.  As  it  is,  his 
winter  home  is  marked  by  the  peasants,  who  sell  the 
information  to  persons  desirous  of  bagging  a  bear- 
skin. In  the  old  days  bear-hunting  was  a  great  occu- 
pation, partly  because  at  that  time  the  bears  were 
often  destructive  of  crops  and  cattle.  Many  stories 
are  told  of  adventures  with  bears.  A  famous  old 
hunter,  who  in  the  course  of  his  life  killed  198  of 
them,  was  once  pursued  by  one  up  a  tree.  The  bear 
bit  his  leg  and  he  fell  on  to  its  back,  but  with  great 
presence  of  mind  he  seized  its  fur  and  yelled  out 
*' March!''  upon  which  the  frightened  beast  galloped 
away,  and  the  hunter  slid  off  its  back  and  escaped. 
On  another  occasion,  when  his  gun  missed  fire,  the 
same  man  saved  his  life  by  thrusting  his  arm  right 
into  the  open  mouth  of  the  bear  that  rushed  at  him. 
This  unnerved  the  bear  and  the  hunter  escaped  with 
a  bad  bite.  In  the  old  days  the  killing  of  a  bear 
was  celebrated  as  a  very  important  event,  and  his 
deeds  were  sung  over  his  dead  body,  as  if  he  had 
been  a  great  human  hero.^ 

The  elk  is  another  creature  which  is  fast  disap- 
^  Cf .  the  description  in  the  "Kalevala/'  Euno  46. 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     107 

pearing,  in  spite  of  its  being  protected  by  law.  It  is, 
in  a  sense,  a  foe  to  the  peasant,  being  very  destruc- 
tive of  crops  and  young  trees.  The  lynx  is  still  to 
be  met  within  the  depths  of  the  forest,  and  every- 
where foxes  abound.  One  can  still  see  in  places  an 
interesting  old  type  of  fox-trap.  A  long  stake  is 
fixed  in  the  ground,  and  is  shaped  at  the  top  like  a 
three-pronged  fork,  the  central  prong  being  the  long- 
est. The  edges  of  the  prongs  are  sharp,  like  knives. 
Some  bait  is  fixed  at  the  top,  and  when  the  fox  jumps 
for  it,  his  paws  are  caught  between  the  prongs  and 
he  cannot  escape. 

Of  the  birds  of  the  country,  the  commonest  are 
the  blackcock,  the  partridge,  the  hazel-grouse  and 
the  capercailzie,  in  shooting  which  the  peasant  is 
accompanied  by  his  sporting  dog,  a  kind  of  wolf- 
hound. In  the  far  north  are  swans  and  wild  geese 
and  eider-ducks  in  great  quantities,  nor  is  the  eagle 
unknown.  Near  the  coast  wild  ducks  abound.  Fish- 
ing is  carried  on  both  in  the  sea  and  in  the  great 
lakes  and  rivers.  Salmon-fishing  on  a  large  scale 
takes  place  on  many  of  the  latter,  especially  in  the 
north,  the  fish  being  caught  in  pens.  This  practice 
has  much  spoiled  the  country  for  the  angler.  Never- 
theless, angling  is  a  very  popular  pursuit  among 
the  peasants,  especially  among  those  living  near  the 
great  lakes.  The  Finnish  temperament  finds  in 
angling  a  particularly  congenial  recreation.  The 
coast  population  naturally  rely  upon  sea-fishing  for 
a  large  part  of  their  livelihood,  the  Baltic  herring 
being  the  principal  catch. 

In    winter,    fishing    is    carried    on    extensively 


108  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

througli  holes  in  the  ice.  Large  colonies  of  fisher- 
men camp  out  on  the  frozen  sea,  often  having  horses 
and  sledges  with  them.  It  happens  nearly  every 
winter  that  the  ice  cracks  and  one  or  more  fishing 
colonies  are  carried  out  to  sea  on  gigantic  icefloes. 
They  are  then  at  the  mercy  of  wind  and  wave;  if 
they  are  fortunate,  the  wind  that  has  blown  them  out 
to  sea  will  change,  and  they  will  be  blown  ashore 
again.  But  it  often  happens  that  they  are  on  the 
floe  for  days  before  being  picked  up  by  passing  ves- 
sels or  by  the  boats  that  go  in  search  of  them. 
Sometimes  the  floe  may  break  up  into  several  pieces, 
each  with  its  contingent  of  human  beings.  The  men 
take  it  all  very  coolly.  Like  miners,  they  seem  to 
be  indifferent  to  the  great  perils  they  are  exposed 
to,  and  often  they  are  carried  out  to  sea  because  they 
have  been  too  careless  to  set  a  proper  watch.  If  the 
crack  were  reported  at  once  they  could,  of  course, 
get  ashore  before  it  became  too  wide. 

Seal-shooting  on  the  frozen  sea  is  an  important 
winter  pursuit.  The  peasant  lies  flat  on  a  sledge 
which  he  propels  with  his  feet.  In  front  of  the 
sledge  is  fixed  a  white  board  or  sheet,  so  that  the 
seals  may  not  notice  the  approach  of  the  sledge 
across  the  snow.  The  peasant  then  stalks  the  seal 
till  he  is  near  enough  to  get  a  shot.  Sometimes  the 
sledge  is  dispensed  with,  in  which  case  the  hunter 
wears  a  white  overall  and  a  white  cap  and  creeps 
along  on  his  stomach. 

Of  the  felling  of  timber  and  its  transport  to  the 
coast  we  shall  speak  in  another  chapter.  But  there 
is  one  other  pursuit  of  the  Finnish  peasant  of  which 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     109 

a  word  should  be  said  here,  namely,  tar-burning. 
Tar-pits  used  to  be  common  throughout  the  country, 
and  even  to-day  a  great  deal  of  tar  is  burned  in  the 
north  chiefly  for  purposes  of  export.  The  method 
is  to  extract  the  tar  from  the  wood  by  means  of  heat. 
When  the  tar  has  been  extracted,  it  is  run  into  bar- 
rels, which  are  sometimes  attached  to  shafts,  so  that 
a  horse  can  draw  them  along  as  if  they  were  car- 
riages composed  solely  of  large  wheels.  If  it  is  not 
wanted  for  home  use,  the  tar  is  taken  to  the  nearest 
waterway  and  put  into  boats  for  transport  to  the 
coast.  These  boats  are  designed  to  shoot  the  numer- 
ous rapids  en  route.  They  are  about  30  feet  long 
and  only  3  feet  broad,  very  lightly  built  so  as  to 
yield  before  a  slight  shock,  but  with  lofty  sides  to 
keep  out  the  foaming  water.  The  skill  and  nerve 
required  for  steering  these  boats  are  very  great, 
but  accidents  very  seldom  occur.  The  first  plunge 
into  a  rapid,  the  noise  of  which  you  have  heard  for 
several  minutes  before,  is  a  fine  sensation.  The 
boat  seems  like  a  wild  creature  released,  speeding 
along  in  the  first  ecstasy  of  freedom;  it  seems  to 
have  acquired  a  life  of  its  own,  to  exercise  choice, 
to  take  pleasure  in  the  sinuous  curves  of  its  body  as 
it  neatly  shaves  the  foam-capped  rocks  and  threads 
its  way  between  the  dangers  that  menace  it.  At 
times,  especially  if  you  have  your  eye  fixed  on  the 
banks,  you  seem  to  be  gliding  forward  with  astound- 
ing velocity.  At  other  times,  it  seems  as  if  your 
boat,  save  for  the  tossing,  stood  still  in  a  rough  sea, 
the  crested  waves  of  which  rushed  upon  it  with  the 
intent  to  destroy.    Look  at  the  banks,  however,  and 


110  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  illusion  vanishes.    When  you  emerge  from  the 
rapids  to  smooth  water  the  silence  is  overwhelming. 

For  the  peasant  the  country-side  is  still  alive  with 
spirits  which  townsfolk  have  lost  the  power  of 
seeing,  but  which  have  to  be  seriously  reckoned 
with  by  the  tiller  of  the  soil.  There  are  still  living 
persons  who  claim  to  have  seen  mermaids  and  the 
Lady  of  the  Forest,  and  little  old  men  sometimes 
help  the  labourer  at  his  work.  Sand  eddies  conceal 
witches  who  travel  along  in  them.  Spirits  have 
been  known  to  unharness  horses  that  an  instant 
before  were  ready  to  start.  Cows  are  still  ridden  by 
the  nightmare.  To  protect  them  one  must  put  a 
knife  in  the  wall  above  the  stall.  Another  way  of 
shielding  cows  from  harm  of  any  kind  is  to  make  a 
hole  in  the  threshold  of  the  cow-house  and  put  quick- 
silver in  it.  Many  ordinary  occurrences  forebode 
important  events.  If  squirrels  build  near  a  house 
it  is  believed  that  one  of  the  inmates  will  die  shortly. 
The  loss  of  a  tooth  is  also  supposed  to  indicate  a 
death.  If  a  cat  runs  across  the  road  you  will  have 
bad  luck,  and  as  a  preventive  should  spit  three  times. 
Visitors  will  come  if  the  cat  licks  its  paws  or  if  your 
nose  tickles.  Breaking  things  indicates  a  wedding, 
and  so  on.  Eecourse  is  still  had  to  charms  for  the 
curing  of  sickness,  the  healing  of  wounds,  for  luck 
in  fishing,  hunting,  weaving,  churning,  agriculture 
and  love  and  the  evil  eye  is  still  feared  and  guarded 
against.  , 

Dr.  Gunnar  Landtman,  who  is  well  known  for  his 
explorations  among  the  tribes  of  the  South  Pacific, 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     111 

was  given  a  most  circumstantial  account  of  how  a 
shepherd  boy  in  South  Finland  saw  the  Lady  of  the 
Forest.  **She  stood  leaning  against  a  high  pine- 
tree  and  looked  very  beautiful.  She  was  wearing  a 
fine  large  hat.  The  shepherd  boy  was  on  a  hill  when 
he  became  aware  of  her  and  she  looked  at  him  flaunt- 
ingly.  When  he  opened  the  gate  and  called  out  the 
cows  she  turned  and  fled.  There  was  a  fine  aspen 
grove  in  the  place  and  the  tree-tops  swayed  when  she 
ran,  so  that  she  was  followed  by  a  kind  of  hissing 
sound.  She  was  very  ugly  behind.  For  this  rea- 
son wood-nymphs  do  not  like  being  seen  from  be- 
hind.'' The  same  author  was  told  about  two  coun- 
try-girls who  **came  to  a  stream  and  saw  some  one 
sitting  on  a  plank  that  was  stretched  across  it.  At 
first  they  thought  that  it  was  a  human  being.  *Do 
you  see  that?'  said  one  of  the  girls.  At  the  same 
moment  the  creature  plunged  into  the  water  and  dis- 
appeared.  Then  the  girls  knew  that  it  was  the 
water-spirit.  They  were  so  near  that  they  could 
have  hit  her  with  a  stick.  The  creature  looked  like 
a  woman;  she  was  washing  herself  when  they  saw 
her,  and  her  breasts  were  so  long  that  she  threw 
them  over  her  shoulder.  She  had  no  clothes  on 
and  was  quite  naked.  Her  hair  was  black  and  long. ' ' 
Dr.  Landtman  records  the  following  mysterious 
adventure  that  happened  to  a  fisherman  who  went 
out  in  his  boat  one  Sunday  morning.  While  fishing 
he  caught  half  a  perch  on  his  hook.  He  was  sur- 
prised, but  thought  that  the  perch  had  in  some  way 
lost  its  tail.  Presently  there  was  another  bite,  but 
no  fish  came,  and  immediately  afterwards  a  voice 


112  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

said,  ** Stump,  come  back."  The  man,  however,  was 
not  frightened  and  continued  to  fish.  Then  a  great 
hand  arose  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  sud- 
denly the  fisherman  was  cast  ashore,  boat  and  all. 
When  he  came  to,  the  perch  was  gone  without  his 
knowing  how  it  had  happened.  He  didn't  dare  to 
put  out  again  and  after  that  never  fished  on  a  Sun- 
day morning. 

A  whole  book  might  be  written  on  the  curious 
habits  and  customs  and  beliefs  that  still  survive  in 
the  Finnish  country-side  and  help  to  enrich  its  life. 
Finland  is  indeed  unusually  interesting  from  this 
point  of  view,  because  its  folk-lore  is  derived  not 
only  from  the  primitive  Finns  but  also  from  the 
primitive  Scandinavians.  Dr.  Landtman's  stories 
are  all  taken  from  a  Swedish-speaking  tract  quite 
close  to  Helsingfors.  Swedish  Osterbotten  is  an 
even  richer  field. 

Social  life  plays  a  greater  part  in  the  country 
than  the  great  distances  separating  villages  would 
lead  one  to  imagine.  The  peasants  meet  mostly  on 
Sundays,  when  it  is  the  custom  in  the  lake  districts 
and  in  the  lagoons  to  row  to  church  in  the  enor- 
mous church-boats,  which  hold  young  men  and 
maidens,  old  men  and  children,  and  are  as  spacious 
as  Noah's  Ark.  They  belong  to  the  village  or  com- 
mune that  builds  them,  and  often  have  room  for 
more  than  a  hundred  people.  There  are  a  dozen  or 
more  pairs  of  oars  and  each  oar  is  so  big  that  it  is 
pulled  by  two  persons.  Near  the  church  several 
such  boats  may  be  seen  moored,  and  after  the  serv- 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     113 

ice  they  race  each  other  home  as  far  as  their  routes 
converge,  enjoying  the  wildest  excitement. 

The  churches  are  mostly  built  of  timber  and  have 
a  certain  picturesque  quality  in  the  landscape.  The 
bell-tower  usually  stands  separate  from  the  church. 
The  pastor,  who  is  appointed  and  supported  by  the 
congregation,  has  a  large  house  near  by,  and  in 
old  days  travellers  went  as  a  matter  of  course  to 
the  parsonage  for  food  and  lodging.  In  every 
church  is  hung  a  copy  of  the  Act  of  Assurance  by 
which  Alexander  I  guaranteed  Finland  her  consti- 
tutional liberties.  As  churches  are  quite  out  of  the 
reach  of  some  of  the  people,  especially  of  those 
dwelling  on  remote  islands,  open-air  services  are 
often  held  in  the  summer  by  the  seashore. 

The  Church  has  played  an  important  part  in  the 
life  of  Finland,  especially  in  the  sphere  of  educa- 
tion.^ But  of  recent  decades  it  has  lost  much  of  its 
hold  upon  the  people.  The  Socialists  have  been  re- 
sponsible-for  a  good  deal  of  anti-religious  propa- 
ganda and  the  Church  itself  has  got  rather  out  of 
touch  with  the  needs  of  modern  life.  But  what  has 
done  most  of  all  to  discredit  religion  in  Finland  has 
been  the  attitude  taken  up  by  the  clergy  towards 
the  russianizing  of  their  country.  A  few,  indeed, 
boldly  took  their  stand  on  the  constitution  and 
spoke  out  nobly,  but  the  majority  gave  way  from 
motives  of  expediency,  thereby  losing  the  confidence 
not  only  of  the  intellectuals  but  of  large  numbers 
of  the  working  classes.  Rarely  has  a  finer  chance 
been  thrown  away. 

1  Cf .  Chapter  X 


114  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Harvest-time  is  the  signal  for  great  social  gather- 
ings. The  peasants  of  the  neighbourhood  assemble 
at  the  farm  where  haymaking  or  harvesting  is  going 
on,  and  work  together  during  the  day  and  feast 
and  dance  at  night.  All  who  work  are  entitled  to 
\  share  in  the  feasting.  These  dances  are  unforget- 
table. Many  of  the  peasants  dance  astonishingly 
well,  and  there  is  a  naturalness  and  enthusiasm 
about  the  whole  thing  which  compares  very  favour- 
ably with  the  more  ceremonious  and  blase  dancing 
in  fashionable  ball-rooms.  In  parts  of  the  country 
the  midsummer  dance  survives.  On  Midsummer 
Eve  you  get  into  a  farm  cart  trimmed  with  birch- 
branches  and  filled  with  hay,  amid  which  you  lie,  and 
are  driven  through  the  light  Northern  night  to  the 
accompaniment  of  an  old  fiddler  who  sits  on  a  chair 
in  a  corner  of  the  cart.  Singing  and  talking,  you 
bump  along  the  not  very  good  road  until  towards 
midnight  you  come  to  a  village  green,  in  the  centre 
of  which  a  gaily  decorated  maypole  has  been  erected. 
Here,  in  the  delicious  cool,  you  dance  around  the 
maypole  and  revel  in  the  joy  of  a  night  that  never 
grows  dark.  In  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  you 
drive  back,  perhaps  dozing  in  your  bed  of  hay,  and 
after  getting  your  oars  from  the  tree  under  which 
you  have  hidden  them,  row  across  the  silent  fjord 
and  creep  along  the  path  through  a  pinewood  to 
your  home. 

In  many  parts  of  Finland  the  old  pagan  custom 
of  dancing  and  singing  around  a  fire  on  Midsummer 
Eve  continues,  and  still  in  the  twentieth  century  the 
young  people  may  be  seen  leaping  over  the  flames. 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     115 

At  Whitsuntide,  also,  such  fires  are  made,  to  cele- 
brate the  return  of  sunlight  and  warmth  to  the  earth, 
and  the  peasants  sing  ancient  runes — so  ancient  that 
in  some  places,  like  E-istala,  near  Tavastehus,  the 
very  meaning  of  the  words  sung  has  been  forgotten 
beyond  recovery. 

Apart  from  the  harvest  and  midsummer,  it  is  the 
Church  festivals  that  are  celebrated  most  enthusi- 
astically. Easter  has  its  painted  eggs,  as  in  other 
countries,  and  a  special  dish  called  ^^memma,'' 
which  is  made  of  malt,  sweetened  and  boiled  till  it 
becomes  quite  thick,  and  served  in  birch-bark  bas- 
kets. It  is  eaten  with  lots  of  cream  and  sugar. 
Easter,  for  some  reason,  is  a  great  time  for  chil- 
dren to  swing.  All  Saints'  Day  is  remarkable  as 
the  day  on  which  servants'  contracts  take  effect  or 
expire  in  the  country  districts — for  servants  are 
engaged  there  by  the  year.  Shrove  Tuesday  is  cele- 
brated by  eating  large  buns,  which  are  placed  in  a 
soup-plate  filled  with  milk  and  swell  to  a  most  em- 
barrassing size. 

Christmas  is,  of  course,  the  greatest  feast  of  all, 
and  preparations  are  made  for  it  long  beforehand. 
Bread  is  baked,  ale  is  brewed,  and  the  eleborate 
treatment  of  the  stockfish  is  taken  in  hand.  As  the 
festival  approaches,  the  whole  house  in  washed  and 
cleaned  and  the  floor  is  covered  with  clean  straw. 
On  Christmas  Eve  the  whole  family  retires  to  the 
bath-hut  and  undergoes  the  tremendous  purgation 
of  the  Finnish  bath,  afterwards  perhaps  taking  a 
roll  in  the  snow.  Then  follows  a  meal  from  the 
Christmas  fare  of  rice  porridge  and  stockfish.    Nor 


116  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

have  the  animals,  in  the  midst  of  whom  Our  Lord 
was  born,  been  forgotten.  They  are  given  extra 
food,  and  a  sheaf  of  corn  has  been  put  out  for  the 
birds.  The  family  retires  early  to  rest,  the  chil- 
dren often  sleeping  on  the  straw  in  memory  of  the 
Christ-child  who  was  born  in  a  manger.  Sometimes 
what  is  called  a  *^ heaven"  is  suspended  from  the 
ceiling.  It  is  a  framework  of  threads  covered  with 
straws  and  decorated  with  pieces  of  paper  cut  in 
the  shape  of  stars  and  other  appropriate  emblems. 
Lit  up  from  below  by  candle  and  firelight  it  has  a 
beautiful  transparent  effect,  and  must  seem  very 
lovely  to  a  child.  On  Christmas  morning  all  rise 
very  early,  while  it  is  still  dark.  They  may  have 
to  drive  very  many  miles  before  reaching  the  church 
in  time  for  the  six  o'clock  service.  All  do  honour  to 
the  great  festival,  according  to  their  means.  The 
best  horses  are  put  into  the  sledges,  which  are  cov- 
ered with  bright  rugs,  and  as  many  bells  as  possible 
are  attached  to  the  harness  to  make  a  merry  sound. 
Nor  is  this  early  morning  drive  entirely  through 
pitch  darkness.  For  all,  both  high  and  low,  have 
placed  lighted  candles  in  their  windows  to  celebrate 
the  Saviour's  birthday,  and  every  house  or  cottage 
you  pass  flashes  to  you  the  good  news.  In  the  old 
days  there  used  to  be  a  man  holding  a  torch,  who 
stood  at  the  back  of  the  seldge  and  lit  up  the  road 
for  you,  but  this  custom  has  died  out.  When  you 
reach  the  church  you  find  that  this,  like  the  cottages, 
is  brilliantly  lighted  with  candles.  They  stand 
everywhere — not  merely  in  the  conventional  places, 
but  here,  there  and  everywhere,  and  especially  in 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     117 

the  windows.  From  the  outside  the  church  shines 
through  the  darkness  like  a  vast  and  brilliant  lan- 
tern. Tied  along  a  fence  near  by  is  a  long  row  of 
horses  and  sledges;  the  breath  of  the  horses  issues 
in  clouds  of  white  steam.  At  the  end  of  the  service 
there  is  a  rush  for  the  sledges,  for  it  is  the  custom 
to  race  home  from  church.  If  the  way  lies  in  part 
across  a  frozen  lake,  a  tremendous  pace  may  be 
attained  and  there  is  the  keenest  excitement  as  half 
a  dozen  sledges  strain  abreast.  The  remainder  of 
the  day  begun  thus  strenuously  is  usually  spent  in 
eating  the  Christmas  ham  and  other  seasonable  fare, 
and  in  quietly  resting.  On  St.  Stephen's  Day  it  is 
customary  for  the  young  people  to  go  out  driving 
and  wish  each  other  a  good  year  for  the  flax,  and  on 
New  Year's  Eve  you  melt  tin  and  throw  it  in  water 
to  harden,  after  which  you  hold  it  up  against  the 
wall  and  see  your  future  in  the  shadow  it  casts  or  in 
the  shape  the  hardened  tin  assumes. 

The  marriage  customs  are  interesting  and  vary 
greatly  in  different  parts  of  Finland.  In  some 
places  the  proposal  is  still  made,  not  by  the  lover, 
but  by  a  friend  acting  on  his  behalf.  The  wedding 
is  a  great  event  among  the  richer  peasants  and  ^ 
recalls  echoes  of  the  wedding  described  in  the  **Kale- 
vala,"  the  feasting  in  some  cases  lasting  no  less 
than  three  days.  The  bride  is  dressed  by  a  woman 
who  is  the  official  village  bride-dresser.  If  the  bride 
had  misbehaved  in  her  earlier  life  her  wreath  used 
to  be  made  in  a  different  way  from  that  worn  by 
other  brides. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  old  mar- 


118  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

riage  customs  in  Finland  is  one  that  has  not  yet 
disappeared  among  the  Swedish  population  of  Oster- 
botten. 

Between  nine  and  ten  of  a  Saturday  evening  the 
youths  of  the  village  meet,  dressed  in  their  best 
clothes,  and  stand  and  talk  for  some  time,  waiting 
for  the  girls  to  go  to  bed.  Presently  they  disperse, 
moving  off  unobtrusively  each  to  visit  his  own  girl. 
If  he  is  engaged,  a  boy  may  go  openly  to  the  place 
where  his  sweetheart  is  living,  but  otherwise  it  is 
de  rigueur  not  to  let  the  others  know  which  girl  he 
visits.  The  girls  are  free  to  admit  or  refuse  admis- 
sion to  any  boy,  but  when  once  they  are  engaged  the 
girl  is  expected  to  admit  her  betrothed  only. 

In  the  old  days  the  girls  of  a  farm  usually  slept 
all  together,  but  nowadays  they  sleep,  as  a  rule,  in 
a  hut  outside  the  main  building  or  have  a  room  to 
themselves,  thus  en'joying  privacy  for  these  noc- 
turnal visits.  In  the  summer,  moreover,  these  meet- 
ings very  often  take  place  in  the  remote-lying  huts 
or  cottages  where  the  girls  live  in  order  to  be  near 
the  pasturing  cattle  and  to  be  able  to  make  butter 
and  cheese  on  the  spot,  without  having  to  transport 
the  milk  many  miles  to  the  farm.  The  girls  take  a 
great  pride  in  these  saeters  and  make  them  look 
as  gay  and  attractive  as  possible,  hanging  up  their 
prettiest  handkerchiefs  and  petticoats  as  ornaments. 
When  a  boy  who  is  not  engaged  comes  to  the  place 
where  the  girl  he  desires  to  visit  sleeps,  a  curious 
ritual  takes  place.  The  boy  taps  on  the  window, 
and  the  proper  thing  is  to  use  a  cigarette-holder,  or 
something  else  that  makes  a  sharp  noise.    It  ought 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     119 

to  sound  as  much  as  possible  like  the  click  of  a  tele- 
graph apparatus.  After  tapping,  the  boy  waits  a 
little  and  then  calls  out,  ^*Do  you  hear  anything?'' 
If  he  fails  to  get  an  answer  he  taps  again,  louder  and 
longer,  and  says: — 

"Kick  the  fur  to  the  feet. 
Kick  between  the  wall-beams  your  sleep; 
Put  your  foot  on  the  floor, 
Your  hand  on  the  door 
And  let  us  meet. 

Why  in  the  name  of  all  the  devils  are  the  girls  so 
mighty  and  proud  that  they  don't  care  to  get  up  and 
answer  an  honest  village  boy?    Don't  you  hear?" 

Usually  a  voice  is  heard  from  within  saying, 
^* Hullo,  there!" 

Then  the  boy  exclaims:  **0f  course  you  must 
have  heard.  Aren't  you  getting  up?  It  is  such  a 
small  trouble  to  get  up  and  see  what  a  boy  wants 
this  evening." 

**Well,  it  isn't  such  a  trouble,"  says  the  girl. 

**It  isn't  so  great  that  you  haven't  done  something 
greater  before.  You  are  coming  after  all,  aren't 
you?"  says  the  boy. 

Then  the  girl  comes  to  the  window  and  draws  the 
curtain,  so  that  she  can  see  the  boy.  They  say 
**good  evening,"  and  then  the  boy  asks: 

**What  is  going  on  in  there,  now," 

**I  am  only  sleeping,"  she  replies. 

** Perhaps  you  have  a  sleepy  boy  with  you,"  he 
continues. 

^*No,  I've  no  naughty  sweetheart,"  she  answers. 

** Aren't  you  going  to  let  me  in."  he  says. 


120  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

**I  don't  know  if  I  will/'  she  replies. 

**0h,  you  will  surely  let  me  in,"  he  pleads. 

And  then  she  either  agrees,  saying,  '*A11  right, 
then,  I  will,"  or  refuses,  saying,  **I  won't  let  you 
in  this  evening.  Good  night"  in  which  case  he  has 
to  go  off  without  further  ado. 

* '  If  the  girl  is  willing  to  receive  him,  however,  she 
goes  to  the  door  in  her  underskirt  and  admits  him, 
lights  the  lamp  if  it  is  dark  (in  the  height  of  sum- 
mer it  is  light  all  night),  and  then  gets  into  bed 
again.  Presently  the  bgy  asks  if  he  may  stay  with 
her  overnight,  and  if  she  fays  yes,  he  is  allowed  to 
take  off  his  boots,  coat,  waistcoat  and  collar,  put  out 
the  light  and  lie  down  at  her  side.  If  a  boy  to  whom 
she  is  not  engaged  attempts  to  undress  more  the 
girl  leaves  him.  The  night  is  spent  in  talking,  and 
in  the  morning  the  girl  gets  up  and  makes  coffee, 
after  which  the  young  man  departs,  thanking  her 
for  a  good  lodging. 

If  a  boy  from  another  village  turns  up,  his  friends 
consider  it  only  hospitable  to  secure  him  night 
quarters  also.  But  one  of  them  must  go  with  him 
to  explain  to  the  girl  who  he  is  and  guarantee  his 
respectability.  Any  boy  who  misbehaves  very  soon 
forfeits  his  right  to  night  quarters,  for  the  report 
travels  rapidly  round  the  village  and  none  of  the 
girls  will  have  anything  to  do  with  him. 

The  origin  of  this  custom,  which  seems  to  have 
been  common  at  one  time  all  over  the  north  of  Scan- 
dinavia, was  that,  owing  to  the  great  distances  sepa- 
rating them  and  to  the  hardness  of  the  life,  young 
people  had  very  few  chances  of  meeting  openly  and 


MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND  BELIEFS     121 

getting  to  know  each  other.  In  these  days  the  con- 
ditions are  changed  and  the  custom  is  no  doubt 
doomed  to  disappear.^ 

^  For  my  description  of  this  custom  I  have  followed  closely 
the  account  of  it  given  in  Brage's  "Arskrift,"  1908. 


X. 


\ 


V 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   WORLD   OF   THE   ANCIENT   FINNS 

BEFORE  proceeding  further  it  is  desirable  to 
glance  at  the  racial  mind  of  the  people  we  are 
studying,  as  it  is  expressed  in  their  ancient  poetry. 
This  poetry  was  probably  composed  by  a  variety  of 
runo-singers  or  minstrels  during  the  centuries  im- 
mediately preceding  the  introduction  of  Christianity 
into  Finland.  But  as  it  was  handed  down  orally 
from  father  to  son  for  generations,  in  the  course 
of  time  it  naturally  received  many  influences  from 
Christianity,  and  opinions  differ  greatly  as  to  the 
pre-  or  post-Christian  composition  of  many  of  the 
runos.  The  songs  were  sung  by  two  singers  who  sat 
opposite  each  other,  clasped  hands,  and  swayed 
forwards  and  backwards  to  the  accompaniment  of  a 
harp.  One  sang  a  line,  which  the  other  repeated, 
thus  giving  the  first  one  time  to  think  out  the  next 
line.  It  is  described  in  the  opening  lines  of  the 
poem : — 

Let  us  clasp  our  hands  together. 
Let  us  interlock  our  fingers; 
Let  us  sing  a  cheerful  measure. 
Let  us  use  our  best  endeavours, 
While  our  dear  ones  hearken  to  us, 
And  our  loved  ones  are  instructed, 
122 


THE  WOELD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    123 

While  the  young  are  standing  round  us. 
Of  the  rising  generation, 
Let  them  learn  the  words  of  magic, 
And  recall  our  songs  and  legends. 

These  my  father  sang  aforetime. 
As  he  carved  his  hatchet'si  handle. 
And  my  mother  taught  me  likewise, 
As  she  turned  around  her  spindle. 
When  upon  the  floor,  an  infant. 
At  her  knees  she  saw  me  tumbling. 
As  a  helpless  child,  milk-bearded. 
As  a  babe  with  mouth  all  milky. 

We  have  already  seen  Tiow  the  fragments  of  this 
ancient  poetry  were  collected  and  fashioned  into  a 
whole  by  Elias  Lonnrot,  and  shall  now  regard  it 
mainly  as  it  throws  light  on  the  world  of  the  ancient 
Finns.  The  word  ** primitive''  strikes  its  key-note. 
The  earth  itself  is  a  primitive,  pre-human  place, 
which,  together  with  the  sun,  the  moon  and  the 
clouds,  has  been  formed  out  of  the  broken  fragments 
of  a  teaPs  egg,  which  the  teal  had  laid  on  the  knee 
of  the  Water  Mother,  who,  before  she  had  descended 
from  the  sky  and  been  fertilized  by  wind  and  wave, 
had  been  the  Virgin  of  the  Air.  When  the  earth 
has  been  formed,  Man,  in  the  person  of  the  aged 
bard  Wainamoinen,  issues  from  the  Water  Mother's 
womb.  The  world  as  it  presents  itself  to  him  (or 
to  the  primitive  people  who  created  him)  is  on  a 
vast  scale.  He  himself  lay  thirty  years  in  his 
mother's  womb,  and  when  he  forced  his  way  out  and 
fell  into  the  surrounding  water  he  was  tossed  about 
on  the  sea  for  eight  years  before  reaching  land. 
The  land,  too,  was  primitive  and  vast,  as  it  must 


124  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

have  appeared  to  those  who  first  attempted  to  sub- 
due it,  and  it  was  full  of  powers  hostile  to  man, 
which  had  to  be  propitiated.  We  read  of  an  oak- 
tree  that  grew  so  vast  that  it  overshadowed  the  en- 
tire country,  hiding  the  sun  and  the  moon.  Even 
inanimate  things,  such  as  iron  and  wood,  have  the 
power  of  speech,  while  birds  and  beasts  talk  freely. 
Indeed,  the  animal  world  is  of  very  great  impor- 
tance to  the  inhabitants  of  these  huge  wastes.  Thus 
an  eagle  saves  Wainamoinen  by  conveying  him  on 
its  back  from  the  sea,  when,  after  swimming  for 
many  days,  he  begins  to  feel  faint;  and  when  the 
northern  maiden  Aino  is  drowned,  it  is  the  hare  that 
takes  the  news  to  her  family.  Aino  herself  is  turned 
into  a  fish,  and  as  such  is  caught  by  her  old  lover 
Wainamoinen,  only  to  escape  into  the  water  again 
and  mock  him. 
The  population  of  Kalevala  (the  Land  of  Heroes,) 
^  seems  to  live  in  small  groups,  separated  by  great 
N  stretches  of  water,  forest  and  moorland.  It  is  a  pre- 
civilized  life  they  lead,  and  the  finer  shades  of  feel- 
;  and  expression,  such  as  a  lyrical  sense  of  the  beauty 
/  of  the  earth  and  of  motherhood,  coexist  with  the 
(^  thoughts  and  customs  of  a  barbarous  age.  One  is 
reminded  of  early  art,  where  the  conception  is  hu- 
man but  the  lines  are  stiff  and  unyielding.  These 
heroes  and  heroines  still  have  much  unassimilated 
metal  in  their  composition — they  are  often  metallic 
to  the  touch.  But  they  by  no  means  resemble  the 
stark  and  mighty  figures  of  Icelandic  saga  or  of  the 
Nibelungenlied,  their  metal  being  of  quite  a  different 
quality. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS     125 

The  story  and  characters  are  not  exclusively  Fin- 
nish in  origin,  but  their  relation  to  other  sagas  can- 
not be  discussed  here.  It  is  enough  that  they  are 
profoundly  informed  and  moulded  by  Finnish  feel- 
ing and  thought. 

The  principal  men  in  the  story  are  "Wainamoinen, 
the  aged  bard,  whose  origin  we  have  already  seen," 
and  who  is  renowned  for  his  wisdom,  his  singing  and 
his  magic ;  Ilmarinen,  the  mighty  smith,  who  rejoices 
in  his  forge;  Lemminkainen,  a  jolly,  hot-headed, 
reckless  rascal,  who  is  a  favourite  with  the  girls 
and  is  always  getting  into  trouble;  and  KuUervo, 
a  tragic  figure  whose  hand  is  against  every  man^s. 
Of  the  heroines  must  be  mentioned  especially  Louhi, 
the  mistress  of  Pohjola  (the  North),  who  is  an  ex- 
tremely formidable  personage,  and  her  daughter, 
the  Maiden  of  Pohjola.  These  two  women  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  characterize,  as  they  appear  in  many  con- 
tradictory parts  and  are  obviously  the  creations  of 
several  different  minds. 

The  motive  that  unites  these  and  the  minor  char- 
acters of  the  poem  is  the  forging  of  Sampo,  the 
magic  mill,  and  its  transference  from  Pohjola  to 
Kalevala.  Closely  associated  with  this  are  the  at- 
tempts made  by  the  heroes  to  win  the  beautiful 
Madien  of  Pohjola  as  bride. 

The  great  power  in  this  ancient  world-order  is 
magic,  and  almost  anything  can  be  achieved  by  its 
means.  By  it  Wainamoinen  sings  his  enemy  Jouka- 
hainen  into  a  swamp,  and  Ilmarinen  actually  forges 
himself  a  new  wife,  though  it  is  true  he  fails  to  give 
her  life  and  warmth.    In  every  emergency  recourse 


\ 


126  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

is  had  to  it,  and  the  magical  spells  in  the  **Kale- 
vala^'  are  innumerable  and  often  wearisome.  In 
order  to  control  anything  you  must  know  and  relate 
to  its  origin.  You  can  then  do  what  you  like  with 
it.  Almost  any  risk  is  worth  taking  in  order  to 
master  a  powerful  spell,  and  Wainamoinen  actually 
goes  down  to  Tuonela,  the  kingdom  of  death  and 
hell,  in  order  to  secure  three  magic  words  necessary 
for  the  construction  of  a  boat  he  is  building.  Their 
ancient  reputation  as  magicians  clings  to  the  Finns 
even  to-day,  and  it  is  commonly  believed  among 
sailors  of  other  nations  that  the  Finn  has  the  power 
of  calling  up  storms.  In  Kalevala  the  magical 
world  and  the  natural  world  have  not  yet  been  dif- 
ferentiated ;  magic  mingles  at  every  turn  with  daily 
life  and  there  seems  to  be  no  sense  of  inconsistency. 
At  one  and  the  same  moment  we  are  face  to  face 
ness  of  every-day  home  life,  as  when  Joukahainen, 
with  the  most  powerful  sorcery  and  with  the  cosi- 
sunk  chin-deep  in  the  filthy  swamp  by  magic  spells, 
beseeches  Wainamoinen — 

Speak  thy  word  of  magic  backwards. 
Break  the  spell  that  overwhelms  me  I 
You  shall  have  my  sister  Aino, 
I  will  give  my  mother's  daughter. 
She  shall  dust  your  chamber  for  you. 
Sweep  the  flooring  with,  her  besom. 
Keep  the  milkpots  all  in  order: 
And  shall  wash  your  garments  for  you. 
Golden  fabrics  she  shall  weave  you. 
And  shall  bake  your  cakesi  of  honey. 

Upon  which  Wainamoinen,  who  desires  a  wife  for 
his  old  age,  dissolves  the  spell. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    127 

While  these  excursions  into  the  realm  of  magic 
and  descriptions  of  life  on  a  huge  scale  have  their 
interest,  it  must  be  admitted  that  after  a  time  they 
become  tedious  to  any  but  a  student  of  folk-lore. 
They  create  an  atmosphere  of  primitive  life,  indeed, 
but  there  is  too  much  of  it.  The  most  attractive 
and  interesting  side  of  the  poem,  apart  from  its 
literary  beauties,  is  the  descriptions  it  gives  of  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  primitive  Finns. 

-/There  are  many  references  to  agriculture,  but  the 
real  interests  of  the  men  are  rather  to  be  found  in 
hunting,  fighting,  magic  and  love.  When  Lemmin- 
kainen  desires  the  daughter  of  Louhi  in  marriage  he 
is  set  three  tasks:  to  capture  the  elk  of  Hiisi,  to 
bridle  the  fire-breathing  horse  of  Hiisi,  and  to  shoot 
a  certain  swan — all  exploits  of  the  hunter — and  a 
whole  runo  is  devoted  to  the  description  of  how 
.Wainamoinen  killed  a  bear  and  of  the  great  feast 
that  followed.  Fighting,  however,  plays  a  smaller 
part  than  in  most  other  epics  and  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  regarded  with  great  enthusiasm,  but 
rather  as  an  unavoidable  evil.  It  is  usually  an  in- 
dividual affair,  and  although  one  hears  of  bodies  of 
men  engaged  in  it,  as  in  the  great  struggle  for  the 
Sampo,  what  most  interested  the  audience  was  evi- 
dently the  description  of  single  combats.  Magic 
plays  an  important  part  in  fighting  and  is  resorted 
to  where  possible  as  a  substitute  for  physical  force. 
In  fact,  war  is  at  least  as  much  a  matter  of  super- 
natural as  of  natural  agencies.  The  heroes  are  not 
ashamed  of  telling  lies  to  their  enemies ;  indeed,  it 
seems  rather  creditable  to  do  so  if  one  is  not  found 


128  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

out.  Nor  are  they  ashamed  to  express  their  feelings 
by  weeping.  They  have  a  great  and  almost  childish 
delight  in  bright  fresh  objects,  such  as  axes,  swords, 
nicely  appointed  sledges  and  shields.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, this  description  of  a  boat  built  by  Waina- 
moinen : — 

There  the  pale  grey  boat  is  lying. 
And  the  boat  with  red  he  painted. 
And  adorned  the  prow  with  gilding. 
And  with  silver  overlaid  it; 
Then  upon  the  morning  after. 
Very  early  in  the  morning. 
Pushed  his  boat  into  the  water, 
In  the  waves  the  hundred-boarded. 
Pushed  it  from  the  barkless  rollers. 
Prom  the  rounded  logs  of  pine-tree. 
Then  he  raised  a  mast  upon  it; 
On  the  masts  the  sails  he  hoisted. 
Raised  a  red  sail  on  the  vessel. 
And  another  blue  in  colour; 
Then  the  boat  himself  he  boarded. 
And  he  walked  upon  the  planking. 
And  upon  the  sea  he  steered  it, 
O^er  the  blue  and  plashing  billows. 

Here,  again,  is  a  description  of  a  spear: — 

Then  the  smith  a  spear  constructed, 
'Not  a  long  one,  not  a  short  one. 
But  of  middle  length  he  forged  it. 
On  the  blade  a  wolf  was  sitting. 
On  the  edge  a  bear  was  standing. 
At  the  joint  an  elk  was  trotting. 
On  the  shaft  a  colt  was  running. 
At  the  end  a  reindeer  leaping. 
Then  fresh  snow  was  gently  falling. 
And  a  little  snow  had  drifted 
As  it  drifts  in  early  autumn, 
"White  as  is  the  hare  in  winter. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    129 

Nor  are  they  indifferent  to  their  personal  appear- 
ance and  to  the  joy  of  bright  colours,  as  the  follow- 
ing description  of  Ilmarinen  dressing  for  his  wed- 
ding shows: — 

Then  she  brought  him  finest  stockings. 

Which,  as  maid,  had  wove  his  mother. 

And  with  these  his  shins  he  covered. 

And  his  calves  were  hidden  by  them. 

Then  she  brought  him  shoes  that  fitted. 

Best  of  Saxon  boots  she  brought  him. 

And  with  these  the  stockings  covered 

"Which  his  mother  sewed  as  maiden; 

Then  a  coat  of  blue  she  chose  him, 

"With  a  liver-coloured  lining,   " 

Covering  thus  the  shirt  of  linen, 

"Which  of  finest  flax  was  fashioned; 

Then  an  overcoat  of  woollen. 

Of  four  kinds  of  cloth  constructed. 

O'er  the  coat  of  bluish  colour. 

Of  the  very  latest  fashion. 

And  a  new  fur,  thousand-buttoned. 

And  a  hundred-fold  more  splendid. 

O'er  the  overcoat  of  woollen, 

And  the  cloth  completely  hiding; 

Eound  his  waist  a  belt  she  fastened. 

And  the  belt  was  gold-embroidered, 

"Which  his  mother  wrought  as  maiden. 

Wrought  it  when  a  fair-haired  maiden; 

Brightly  coloured  gloves  she  brought  him.  .  .  . 

Which  his  father  once  had  purchased. 

When  as  bridegroom  he  adorned  him. 

As  regards  home-life  and  family  relationships, 
the  people  of  Kalevala  have  an  extraordinary  affec- 
'Hion  for  their  mothers.  This,  indeed,  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  features  of  the  poems.  The  bride, 
when  she  is  being  instructed  in  her  new  duties,  is 
warned  never  to  forget  her  own  mother :—- 


130  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

For  it  was  thy  mother  reared  thee. 
And  her  beauteous  breasts  that  nursed  thee, 
From  her  own  delightful  body. 
From  her  form  of  perfect  whiteness. 
Many  nights  has  she  lain  sleepless. 
Many  meals  has  she  forgotten, 
While  she  rocked  thee  in  her  cradle, 
JWatching  fondly  o'er  her  infant. 

If  she  forgets  her  mother  the  daughters  of  the 
kingdom  of  death  will  reproach  her: — 

Why  hast  thou  forgot  thy  mother. 

Or  despised  thy  dearest  mother? 

Great  the  sufferings  of  thy  mother. 

Great  her  sufferings  when  she  bore  thee,  ^ 

Lying  groaning  in  the  bath-room. 

On  a  couch  of  straw  extended. 

When  she  gave  thee  thy  existence. 

Giving  birth  to  thee,  the  vile  one! 

Wainamoinen,  hero  and  sage  as  he  is,  turns  to  his 
mother  for  comfort  in  his  distress,  saying : — 

Would  my  mother  now  were  living. 
And  my  aged  mother  waking! 
She  would  surely  tell  me  truly 
How  to  best  support  my  trouble. 
That  my  grief  may  not  overwhelm  me. 
And  my  sorrow  may  not  crush  me. 
In  these  weary  days  of  evil, 
In  this  time  of  deep  depression. 

Even  the  rascally  Lemminkainen  pities  his  mother 
when  he  realizes  how  all  her  children  are  scattered 
and  remembers 

How  like  flowers  we  gathered  round  thee, 
In  one  homeland,  just  like  berries. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    131 

He  turns  to  her  for  aid  in  every  scrape.  One  of 
the  finest  episodes  in  the  ^^Kalevala"  is  that  in  which 
Lemminkainen's  mother,  learning  of  her  son's 
death,  goes  in  search  of  his  body,  rakes  the  water  of 
the  cataract  in  which  he  has  been  drowned  until 
she  has  collected  all  the  scattered  fragments  and 
joined  them  into  a  whole,  and  restores  him  to  life 
with  the  help  of  magic  and  the  gods. 

The  formidable  position  occupied  by  the  mother 
in  a  household  is  seen  from  the  instructions  given 
to  the  bride  as  regards  her  attitude  to  her  mother-in- 
law.  The  newly  married  couple  did  not  have  a 
separate  establishment,  but  lived  patriarchally  in 
the  house  of  the  bridegroom's  parents,  and  the 
mother-in-law  could,  if  she  chose,  make  herself  re- 
markably unpleasant  to  the  young  bride  and  give 
her  all  the  hard  work.  An  old  woman  warns  the 
bride  of  her  own  sad  experiences  in  this  respect 
saying:— 

Fodder  gathered  I  in  summer. 
Winter  worked  I  with  the  pitchfork, 
Even  as  a  labourer  toiling. 
Even  as  a  hired  servant. 
And  my  mother-in-law  for  ever. 
Evermore  for  me  selected 
"Worst  of  all  the  flails  of  threshing. 
Heaviest  mallet  from  the  bath-room. 
Prom  the  beach  the  heaviest  mallet. 
In  the  stall  the  largest  pitchfork. 
Never  did  they  think  me  weary, 
I^or  my  weakness  e^er  considered. 
Though  my  work  had  wearied  heroes. 
Or  the  strength  of  foals  exhausted. 

Old  women  were  often  powerful  magicians,  and 


132  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

this,  no  doubt,  accounts  in  part  for  the  respect  in 
which  they  were  held.  The  young  wife,  on  the 
other  hand,  seems  to  have  been  very  much  kept 
in  her  place,  and  going  to  a  new  home  was  almost  as 
delicate  an  operation  for  her  as  walking  on  eggs. 
The  instructions  given  her  are  of  real  interest, 
throwing  much  light  on  the  life  of  that  time.  For 
instance : — 

If  you  see  the  Great  Bear  clearly. 
With  his  front  to  south  directed, 
And  his  tail  extending  northward. 
Then  'tis  time  for  thee  to  rouse  thee 
From  the  side  of  thy  young  husband. 
Leaving  him  asleep  and  ruddy, 
Fire  to  seek  among  the  ashes. 
Seeking  for  a  spark  in  fire-box, 
Blowing  then  the  fire  discreetly. 
That  from  carelessness  it  spread  not. 

After  lighting  the  fire  there  are  the  cattle  to  be 
attended  to,  and  by  the  time  that  is  done  the  baby 
will  be  crying,  and  she  must  return  home  *4ike  a 
blizzard''  to  comfort  it.  The  room  has  to  be  done, 
so  she  comes  along  with  a  bucket  of  water,  a  besom, 
and  a  pine-chip,  and  has  to  be  kind  even  to  other 
people's  babies  who  may  interrupt  her: — 

Sweep  thou  then  the  floor  to  cleanness. 
Sweep  thou  carefully  the  planking, 
And  upon  the  floor  pour  water, 
Not  upon  the  heads  of  babies. 
If  you  see  a  child  there  lying, 
Though  thy  sister-in-law's  the  infant, 
Tip  upon  the  bench  then  lift  it, 
Wash  its  eyes,  and  smooth  its  hair  down. 
Put  some  bread  into  its  bandies,  . 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    133 

And  upon  the  bread  spread  butter; 
But  if  bread  perchance  be  wanting 
Put  a  chip  into  its  bandies. 

The  cleaning  of  the  room  is  a  really  formidable 
affair,  but  she  must  never  venture  to  get  tired  or 
rest;  for  her  husband  will  be  coming  in  from  his 
work  and  she  must  take  him  a  basin  and  towel  and 
be  nice  to  him.  And  then  there  is  her  mother-in-law 
to  help.  Water  has  to  be  fetched,  the  dough  has  to 
be  kneaded,  the  corn  must  be  ground  in  a  handmill, 
logs  have  to  be  taken  to  the  bakehouse,  the  oven 
heated  and  the  baking  done.  She  must  not  linger 
with  her  bucket  by  the  water,  lest  her  father-in-law 
or  mother-in-law  imagine  that  she  wishes  to  see  her 
charms  reflected  there,  which  would  never  do.  She 
must  make  no  noise  when  she  gets  the  wood,  because 
they  might  think  she  was  flinging  it  about  in  a  tem- 
per. When  she  does  the  washing-up  she  must  be 
careful  to  count  the  spoons  and  dishes,  for  there  are 
dogs,  cats  and  birds  about  and  **the  village  swarms 
with  children."  Then  there  is  spinning  and  weav- 
ing to  be  done,  for  the  family  requires  thick  woolen 
garments,  and  there  is  also  ale  to  be  brewed.  The 
young  wife  must  be  careful  to  stir  the  ale  with  her 
hands  and  not  use  a  stick,  and  when  she  has  to  go 
out  at  night  to  look  after  it  she  must  not  be  afraid 
of  the  wolves.  In  the  evening  her  father-in-law  will 
want  his  bath,  and  she  must  go  out  to  the  bath-house 
and  prepare  everything.  And  she  must  be  quick 
about  it,  or  her  parents-in-law  will  imagine  she  is 
wasting  her  time,  **on  the  bench  her  head  reclin- 
ing." 


134  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

When  a  stranger  comes  she  should  not  resent 
it:— 

For  a  well-appointed  household 
Always  has  for  guests  provision: 
Scraps  of  meat  that  are  not  needed, 
Cakes  of  bread  the  very  nicest. 

She  must  amuse  him  with  her  conversation,  but 
when  he  goes  she  must  not  accompany  him  farther 
than  the  house  door,  lest  her  husband  should  be 
angry  or  gloomy.  If  she  wants  to  go  into  the  village 
she  must  ask  leave  first,  and  be  careful  what  she 
says  when  she  gets  there.  Thus,  if  asked  whether 
her  mother-in-law  allows  her  butter,  she  must  an- 
swer that  she  gives  it  to  her  by  the  spoonful,  and 
must  never  let  on  that  she  only  does  it  grudgingly 
about  twice  a  year. 

From  other  parts  of  the  poem  one  infers  that  the 
mother-in-law  was  not  always  as  black  as  she  is 
painted  for  the  bride's  edification.  There  is,  indeed, 
a  special  element  of  heightening  or  exaggeration  in 
the  long  description  of  the  marriage  in  the  ^^Kale- 
vala"  which  shows  that  we  have  to  deal  with  a 
rather  elaborate  form  of  ritual  prescribed  for  the 
occasion.  The  bride  is  required  to  weep  bitterly  on 
account  of  the  breaking  with  her  old  life.  She  is 
then  comforted  and  instructed  in  her  duties,  after 
which  an  old  woman  frightens  her  by  recounting 
the  terrible  experiences  she  herself  had  as  a  wife. 
Then  the  bridegroom  is  instructed  in  his  turn,  after 
which  the  farewell  is  said  and  the  two  drive  away 
and  receive  a  tremendous  welcome  at  the  bride- 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    135 

groom's  home,  the  bride  being  greeted  in  words 
such  as  the  following: — 

Noble  damsel,  fairest  aamse.. 
With  thy  beautiful  complexion. 
In  the  house  wilt  thou  be  honoured. 
As  in  f  ather'^s  house  the  daughter, 
All  thy  life  shalt  thou  be  honoured. 
As  in  husband's  house  the  mistress. 

The  bridegroom's  duties  are  unfortunately  not 
given  so  fully  as  those  of  the  bride,  the  chief  em- 
phasis being  laid  on  good  treatment  of  the  wife. 
If  she  proves  thoroughly  recalcitrant,  however,  he 
is  recommended  to  use  physical  force  but  only  after 
he  has  tried  every  other  means : — 

Bridegroom,  give  thy  bride  instruction. 
And  do  thou  instruct  thy  apple. 
In  the  bed  do  thou  instruct  her. 
And  behind  the  door  advise  her; 
For  a  whole  year  thus  instruct  her. 
Thus  by  word  of  mouth  advise  her. 
With  thine  eyes  the  next  year  teach  her. 
And  the  next  year  teach  by  stamping; 
If  to  this  she  pays  no  heeding, 
Nor  concerns  herself  about  it. 
Choose  a  reed  where  reeds  are  growing. 
From  the  heath  fetch  thou  some  horse  tail, 
And  with  these  correct  the  damsel, 
In  the  fourth  year  thus  correct  her. 
With  the  stalks  then  whip  her  lightly. 
With  the  rough  edge  of  the  sedges. 
But  with  whip-lash  do  not  strike  her, 
Neither  with  the  rod  correct  her. 
If  to  this  she  pays  no  heeding. 
Nor  concerns  herself  about  it. 
Bring  a  switch  from  out  the  thicket. 
In  the  dell  select  a  birch-rod. 
Underneath  thy  fur  cloak  hide  it. 


136  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

That  the  neighbours  may  not  know  it. 

Let  the  damsel  only  see  it; 

Threaten  her,  but  do  not  touch  her. 

If  to  this  she  pays  no  heeding, 

Nor  concerns  herself  about  it. 

With  the  switch  correct  the  damsel. 

With  the  birch-rod  do  thou  teach  her. 

But  within  the  room  four-cornered. 

Or  within  the  hut  moss-covered. 

Do  not  beat  her  in  the  meadow. 

Do  not  whip  her  in  the  cornfield. 

Lest  the  noise  should  reach  the  village. 

And  to  other  homes  the  quarrel, 

Neighbours'  wives  should  hear  the  crying, 

And  the  uproar  in  the  forest. 

One  does  not  find  in  the  **Kalevala''  a  very  high 
ideal  of  love,  and  throughout  the  poem  the  mother 
seems  more  highly  venerated  than  the  wife.  The 
sexes  are  very  free  in  their  relations,  and  there  is 
little  trace  of  chivalrous  feeling  between  them. 
Most  of  the  heroes  seem  to  regard  women  as  their 
fair  prey.  Even  Wainamoinen,  the  most  sympa- 
thetic of  them,  hardly  shines  in  his  pressing  of  his 
suit  upon  the  girlish  Aino.  Marriage  by  capture 
seems  common.  Lemminkainen,  after  having  en- 
joyed the  favours  of  every  woman  but  one  in  the 
village  which  he  visits,  finally  carries  off  that  one  by 
force.  Ilmarinen,  also,  wins  one  of  his  wives  in  a 
similar  manner,  only  to  turn  her  into  a  seagull  when 
she  persists  in  being  hostile  to  him.  Irregular  rela- 
tions are  not,  indeed,  approved  of  in  theory,  but  are 
so  common  in  practice  that  the  theory  seems  almost 
a  dead-letter.  No  doubt,  however,  the  heroes  en- 
joyed a  greater  license  in  these  matters  than  the 
common  herd  and  are  not  to  be  taken  as  entirely 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    137 

typical  of  the  latter.  Faithfulness  to  a  past  love 
seems  to  enter  no  one's  head. 

The  amusements  of  the  primitive  Finns  consisted 
largely  in  feasting,  bathing,  and  singing.  One  of 
the  most  spirited  descriptions  in  the  **Kalevala''  is 
that  of  the  great  wedding  banquet.  All  is  on  a 
gigantic  scale.  The  ox,  which  is  of  middle  size  only, 
is  so  big  that  a  swallow  cannot  fly  between  the  tips 
of  its  horns  in  a  day  and  a  squirrel  takes  a  full 
month  to  run  from  its  neck  to  the  tip  of  its  tail,  and 
the  house  was  of  such  dimensions  that 

If  a  cock  crowed  at  the  smoke-hole, 
Underneath  they  could  not  hear  it; 
If  a  dog  at   end  was  barking. 
At  the  door  they  did  not  hear  it. 

(The  speeches,  alas!  are  on  a  similar  scale.)  The 
hostess,  however,  feels  called  upon  to  reply  to  the 
bridegroom's  compliments  on  the  splendid  hall  in 
the  following  terms : — 

Hail,  all  hail  to  thee  who  enters 
In  this  room  of  small  dimensions. 
In  this  very  lowly  cottage, 
In  this  wretched  house  of  firewood, 
In  this  house  of  pine  constructed. 

The  singing  of  the  heroes  is  frequently  described. 
A  harp  was  used,  the  singer  accompanying  himself. 
Wainamoinen's  singing  was  especially  wonderful, 
and  there  is  a  fine  detailed  description  of  how  all 
the  creatures  of  earth  and  air  and  water  came  to 
hear  him  and  grouped  themselves  around  him  as 
he  sat  on  the  singer's  stone, 


s 


138  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

On  a  hill  all  silver-shining. 
From  a  golden  heath  arising, 

and  how  the  emotions  of  the  singer  swept  through 
his  audience  and  moved  them  to  tears. 

Of  the  bath-house  and  its  ancient  ritual  some 
description  has  already  been  given.  Here  it  is  de- 
scribed in  verse.  His  sister  prepares  a  bath  for 
Ilmarinen : — 

Annikki,  whose  name  was  famous. 

Heated  secretly  the  bath-room, 

With  the  boughs  the  wind  had  broken 

And  the  thunderbolt  had  shattered. 

Stones  she  gathered  from  the  river. 

Heated  them  till  they  were  ready;  ♦ 

Cheerfully  she  fetched  the  water, 

From  the  holy  well  she  brought  it. 

Broke  some  bath-whisks  from  the  bushes. 

Charming  bath-whisks  from  the  thickets. 

And  she  warmed  the  honeyed  bath-whisks. 

On  the  honeyed  stones  she  warmed  them; 

Then  with  milk  she  mixed  the  ashes, 

And  she  made  him  soap  of  marrow. 

And  she  worked  the  soap  to  lather. 

Kneaded  then  the  soap  to  lather. 

That  his  head  might  cleanse  the  bridegroom. 

And  might  cleanse  himself  completely. 

Then  the  smith,  e'^en  Ilmarinen, 
Went  to  take  the  bath  he  needed; 
There  he  bathed  himself  at  pleasure. 
And  he  washed  himself  to  whiteness; 
Washed  his  eyes  until  they  sparkled. 
And  his  temples  till  they  glistened, 
And  his  neck  to  hen's-egg  whiteness. 
And  his  body  all  was  shining. 
Prom  the  bath  the  room  he  entered. 
Changed  so  much  they  scarcely  knew  him, 
For  his  face  it  shone  with  beauty. 
And  his  cheeks  were  cleansed  and  rosy. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    139 

Of  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Finns  it  must  suf- 
fice to  say  that  it  seems  to  have  been  an  extraordi- 
nary mixture  of  animism  and  magic,  with  mono- 
theism occasionally  breaking  through  in  noble 
appeals  to  the  Supreme  God.  Amid  much  that  is 
on  a  very  different  level  of  holiness  we  also  find  such 
passages  as  the  following : — 

God  does  not  forsake  the  worthy, 
Does  not  ruin  those  that  trust  Him, 
Never  are  the  good  forsaken, 

and  this  precept : — 

Do  not  walk  in  thine  own  virtue. 
Do  not  walk  in  thine  own  power. 
Walk  in,  strength  of  thy  Creator; 
Do  not  speak  in  thine  own  wisdom. 
Speak  with  tongue  of  mighty  Ukko. 

Christianity  has  begun  to  cast  its  shadow  over  the 
old  deities  and  to  modify  the  old  animistic  concep- 
tions, and  the  close  of  the  poem  shows  Wainamoinen 
leaving  his  country  in  sorrowful  anger  after  the 
Virgin  Marjatta  has  given  birth  to  a  boy  who  is 
baptized  as  King  of  Karelia,  and  whom  the  old  bard, 
like  Herod,  desired  in  van  to  destroy.  He  puts  off 
in  his  boat,  but  promises  to  return  again.  Meanwhile 
he  leaves  his  kantele  and  his  songs  with  his  people. 

Judged  purely  as  literature,  the  ^'Kalevala''  suf- 
fers from  the  variety  of  its  composition.  It  con- 
sists, as  we  saw,  of  a  great  number  of  runos 
composed  by  different  singers,  which  have  been 
combined  into  a  whole.  Such  an  origin  implies  a 
considerable  lack  of  unity,  which  is  well  illustrated 


140  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

in  the  person  of  the  Maiden  of  Pohjola.  One  singer, 
treating  of  her  in  her  maiden  days,  represents  her 
as  a  beautiful,  proud  and  cold  girl.  Another  repre- 
sents her  as  a  bride,  but  she  has  become  shy  and 
timid  to  a  degree  that  is  almost  pitiable.  A  third 
represents  her  as  a  wife,  and  she  has  become  hard 
and  ruthless  and  cruel.  To  this  lack  of  unity  must 
be  added  other  defects  already  referred  to,  a  certain 
inhumanity  in  the  characters,  and  a  weariness  aris- 
ing from  long-winded  description  and  repetition, 
and  from  the  extremely  primitive  nature  of  the 
world  in  which  the  action  takes  place. 

Against  this  we  have  to  set  considerable  literary 
beauty,  the  charm  of  a  primitive  atmosphere  that  is 
genuinely  refreshing,  provided  we  do  not  stay  in  it 
too  long  at  a  time,  the  fascination  of  something  that 
comes  out  of  the  very  heart  of  the  people,  naked  and 
unashamed,  and  with  the  charm  of  antiquity  upon  it. 

Breath  that  is  the  spirit's  bath, 
In  the  old  beginnings  find, 

are  words  that  apply  to  the  *^Kalevala''  when  all 
that  can  be  urged  against  it  has  been  said. 

The  literary  quality  of  the  ^^Kalevala"  is  per- 
haps best  seen  in  the  tragic  story  of  KuUervo,  which 
also  illustrates  the  darker  side  of  the  national  char- 
acter. The  incident,  save  for  an  entire  canto  de- 
voted to  the  recitation  of  charms  for  the  protection 
of  cattle,  is  admirably  condensed  and  concentrated. 
KuUervo  is  brought  up  as  a  slave.  His  parents' 
home  was  destroyed  by  enemies,  and  he  believes 
them  to  be  dead.    From  his  very  birth  he  is  alone 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FINNS    141 

and  unfortunate.  When,  after  his  terrible  and 
weird  murder  of  his  wicked  mistress,  he  escapes  and 
finds  that  his  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters  are 
alive  after  all,  still  worse  tragedy  than  murder 
awaits  him.  For  soon  after  he  is  reunited  to  his 
family  he  meets  and  ravishes  a  maiden,  whom  he 
afterwards  discovers  to  be  his  own  sister,  long  since 
lost  and  given  up  for  dead.  When  the  girl  discovers 
who  he  is,  she  throws  herself  into  a  torrent  and  is 
drowned.  He  then,  too,  determines  on  suicide,  but 
first  goes  out  to  be  revenged  on  the  people  who  had 
enslaved  him.  He  returns  to  find  his  home  deserted, 
and,  wandering  into  the  forest,  he  comes  to  the  place 
where  he  had  the  fatal  meeting  with  his  sister ; — 

There  the  tender  grass  was  weeping, 
And  the  lovely  spot  lamenting, 
And  the  young  grass  was  deploring, 
And  the  flowers  of  heath  were  grieving, 
For  the  ruin  of  the  maiden. 
For  the  mother's  child's  destruction. 
Neither  was  the  young  grass  sprouting, 
Nor  the  flowers  of  heath  expanding, 
Nor  the  spot  had  covered  over. 
Where  the  evil  thing  had  happened. 
Where  he  had  seduced  the  maiden. 
And  his  mother's  child  dishonoured. 

There  he  dies  on  his  sword. 

Note. — The    translation    used    in    this    chapter   is    that    of 
W.  Kirby,  published  by  Messrs.  Dent  in  "Everyman's  Library." 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  LANDMAEKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  SINCE 
EUNEBERG 


I.   KIVI 

ETWEEN  the  ^'Kalevala^'  and  the  Finnish 
literature  of  to-day  there  is  a  great  gulf,  con- 
sisting of  many  hundred  years.     The  reasons  for 
this  should  be  apparent  from  preceding  chapters 
I  and  need  not  be  repeated  here.    But  when  writers 

I         began  once  again  to  make  use  of  the  Finnish  lan- 
\       guage  they  took  up,  as  it  were,  a  broken  thread. 
Story-telling  had  been  the  joy  of  the  ancient  poets 
and  it  is  to  story-teling  that  modern  Finnish  writers 
instinctively  turn.    They  are  the  true  heirs  of  the 
/  bards  who  wove  their  tales  in  the  light  of  the  flicker- 

ing pare,  when  Finland  was  still  Suomi  and  the 
Finns  were  still  pagan.  In  those  days  their  country 
must  have  seemed  to  the  poets  as  vast  as  the  cosmos 
and  as  self-sufficing.  Foreign  lands  were  remote  and 
dim,  lying  on  a  far  horizon.  And  when  the  spirit  of 
the  race  once  more  incarnated  itself  in  stories,  these 
stories  seemed  to  come  direct  from  the  soil,  uninflu- 
enced by  grafting  from  the  outside  world.  They 
sprang  not  from  the  cultured  people  who  live  in 
towns,  but  from  the  very  heart  of  Finland.    It  is  this 

142 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  143 

which  gives  its  chief  interest  to  Finnish  literature. 

The  first  figure  in  the  history  of  the  Finnish  novel 
is  also  the  greatest. 

Alexis  Kivi  was  the  son  of  a  tailor  who  lived  at 
Nurmijarvi,  in  the  province  of  Nyland.  His  real 
name  was  Stenvall,  but  he  is  known  almost  exclu- 
sively by  his  pseudonym,  Kivi.  He  was  born  in  1834, 
and  at  the  age  of  twelve  was  sent  to  school  in  Hel- 
singfors  and  afterwards  became  a  student  at  the 
University.  During  both  his  school  and  student 
years,  and  indeed  throughout  his  short  life,  he  suf- 
fered acutely  from  poverty,  which  contributed  to  the 
bad  health  which  always  dogged  him.  He  seems  to 
have  been  an  extroardinary  mixture  of  morbidity 
and  healthy-mindedness.  His  mother  was  very  re- 
ligious in  a  revivalistic  direction — she  had  the  sole 
Bible  in  the  village  and  the  boy  read  only  religious 
literature.  Yet  nothing  pleased  him  more  than  to 
wander  about  the  woods  with  a  gun  and  to  spend  his 
days  in  the  open  air.  While  still  a  student  he  won  a 
prize  for  a  drama  based  on  the  KuUervo  episode  in 
the  **Kalevala^' — his  own  unhappiness  and  loneli- 
ness doubtless  attracted  him  to  that  hero.  In  1864 
apeared  *  *  Nuumisuutarit, '  *  a  fine  study  of  peasant 
life  in  the  form  of  comedy.  After  this  he  produced 
more  rapidly,  owing  to  a  relief  from  the  financial 
strain.  He  was  given  a  refuge  at  Sjundea,  in  a 
Swedish-speaking  district,  by  Charlotte  Lonnqvist, 
a  lady  nineteen  years  older  than  himself.  Finnish 
literature  owes  her  a  great  debt  of  gratitude. 
Nevertheless,  Kivi  after  some  years  longed  to  be 
back  in  his  home  region,  feeling  a  stranger  amongst 


144  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  Swedish-speaking  peasants.  **The  peasant 
here/*  he  complains,  ** stands  far  from  the  rich 
spiritual  life  that  exists  in  the  Finnish  peasant's 
breast.''  He  regards  the  Finnish  peasant  as  *'the 
most  humorous  in  the  world ;  in  my  opinion  he  has 
a  profounder  inner  life  than  any  other.  However 
this  may  be,  I  long  to  be  away  from  here,  from  the 
Swedish  population,  and  to  hear  the  Finnish  lan- 
guage around  me.  My  life  here  is  indescribably 
monotonous.  I  don't  get  on  with  the  peasants  and 
still  less  with  the  gentry.  I  spent  the  last  two  years 
almost  like  a  prisoner  in  a  tower.  During  the  last 
three  months,  however,  I  have  amused  myself  by 
hunting,  and  have  bagged  ninety-eight  birds — caper- 
cailzie, blackcock,  hazel  hens  and  two  ptarmigan. 
On  my  expedition  I  have  used  both  gun  and  snares. ' ' 
Kivi's  homesickness  in  a  Swedish-speaking  tract 
becomes  intelligible  when  one  reads  his  works. 
*  *  The  Seven  Brothers, ' '  his  greatest  book,  could 
have  sprung  from  no  other  country  than  Finland 
and  could  have  been  written  in  no  other  language 
than  Finnish.  It  was  published  in  1870.  Although  a 
few  of  the  critics  had  some  idea  of  its  worth.  Pro- 
fessor Ahlqvist,  the  most  eminent  of  them,  made  it 
the  subject  of  the  most  bitter  attack,  which  did  the 
author  serious  damage  in  every  respect.  Early  in 
1871  Kivi's  mind  gave  way  and  he  was  removed 
to  an  asylum,  where  he  died  on  December  31,  1872. 
*^The  Seven  Brothers"  is  both  realistic  and  sym- 
bolical. It  is  symbolical  of  the  struggles  of  man  to 
subdue  the  intractable  forces  of  nature,  both  in  the 
world  around  him  and  in  his  own  breast.    Kivi  se- 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  145 

lects  the  moment  when  the  wild  nomadic  life  of  half 
civilized  man  is  being  transformed  into  the  more  dis- 
ciplined life  of  a  civilized  community.  Man  has  to 
break  in  wild  nature  with  a  plough  and  force  the 
desert  to  produce  crops  for  his  use,  and  he  has  to 
break  in  his  own  self-willed  soul,  as  one  breaks  in  a 
wild  horse.  The  story  is  told  realistically  enough, 
yet  with  vivid  and  grotesque  imaginative  power  and 
fantastic  humour.  Kivi's  favourite  reading  was 
the  Bible,  Shakespeare  and  Cervantes,  and  his  real- 
ism is  that  of  the  two  sixteenth-century  writers. 

The  seven  brothers  are  the  sons  of  a  man  who  had 
been  a  great  bear-hunter  and  had  finally  lost  his  life 
in  this  pursuit.  He  had  a  farm  called  Jukola,  in 
South  Tavastland,  but  had  neglected  it  owing  to  his 
passion  for  hunting,  and  his  sons  inherited  his  dis- 
like for  regular  work,  though  they  loved  the  farm 
with  a  passionate  love.  After  their  mother's  death 
they  come  into  conflict  with  the  village  authorities. 
They  had  never  succeeded  in  learning  to  read  and 
are  threatened  by  the  pastor  with  the  stocks.  They 
go  to  the  parish  clerk  to  learn,  en  route  proposing 
one  after  the  other  to  a  girl  who  will  not  take  any  of 
them,  and  having  a  fierce  battle  with  the  boys  of  a 
neighbouring  village.  They  cannot  master  the 
alphabet,  are  locked  up  by  the  clerk  without  any 
food,  but  break  the  window  and  after  many  adven- 
tures escape  home.  But  they  have  made  the  neigh- 
bourhood too  hot  for  them,  and,  to  escape  being 
put  in  the  stocks,  they  take  to  the  woods  with  their 
guns,  a  couple  of  dogs,  and  their  one-eyed  horse 
drawing  a  cart  laden  with  hunting  gear,  household 


146  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

gods  and  the  cat.  They  live  in  the  woods,  building 
themselves  a  room  which  serves  every  purpose,  in- 
cluding that  of  a  bath-room,  and  spend  their  time  in 
hunting,  lazing  and  story-telling. 

But  at  Christmas  this  hut  is  burnt  down  and  they 
are  forced  to  return  to  Jukola  till  the  spring,  when 
they  take  to  the  forest  again  and  have  extraordinary 
adventures.  Once  when  they  are  bear-hunting  their 
dogs  are  attacked  by  a  herd  of  wild  bulls.  First 
come  ten  bulls,  seven  of  which  the  brothers  suc- 
ceed in  slaying  after  a  terrible  struggle.  But  pres- 
ently they  are  attacked  by  thirty-three  of  them. 
They  fly  madly  over  the  fence,  through  which  the 
bulls  crash,  and  over  one  obstacle  after  another,  till 
they  take  refuge  on  a  high  rock  where  the  beasts 
cannot  follow  them.  Here  they  have  to  stand  a 
siege.  They  shout  and  yell  in  vain  for  help.  For 
three  days  they  are  without  food.  One  of  them  gets 
drunk  at  the  brandy  flask,  and  a  horrible  fight  takes 
place  in  which  they  are  all  in  imminent  danger  of 
falling  down  from  the  rock.  As  it  rolled  and 
writhed  from  side  to  side,  ^Hhe  heap  of  brothers 
looked  like  a  many-headed  monster.''  By  a  wild 
instinct  of  justice,  the  drunkard  is  condemned  to 
death,  and  one  of  the  brothers  has  to  be  forcibly 
restrained  from  flinging  him  from  the  rock.  Finally 
they  do  the  only  thing  left  to  them  to  do,  and  shoot 
the  bulls.  It  is  a  terrible  massacre.  The  owner  is 
furious,  but  the  brothers,  dripping  with  the  blood 
of  the  bulls  they  have  skinned,  and  desperate  with 
hunger  and  strain,  threaten  to  send  him  to  another 
world  after  his  bulls  if  he  has  them  molested.     A 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  147 

compromise  is  arranged  and  the  brothers  agree  to 
make  good  the  damage.  In  order  to  do  so  they  have 
to  cultivate  the  soil,  and  a  new  stage  in  their 
career  is  entered  upon.  They  begin  to  realize  that 
they  are  members  of  society  and  that,  as  such,  they 
have  duties  and  responsibilities.  This  conversion  is 
accompanied  by  many  backslidings,  but  gradually 
there  is  a  reconciliation  between  the  brothers  and 
society.  They  return  to  Jukola,  learn  to  read,  get 
married  and  settle  down.  The  transition  from 
nomadic  to  civilized  life  has  been  completed,  and  a 
new  stage  in  the  history  of  the  brothers,  and  of  the 
fatherland  they  syriibolize,  has  commenced.  As  it  is 
said  of  one  of  them :  *  *  The  fatherland  was  no  longer 
for  him  a  vague  part  of  a  vaguely  conceived  world 
of  which  he  knew  neither  where  nor  what  it  was. 
Now  he  knew  where  that  land  was,  this  precious 
quarter  of  the  world  where  the  Finnish  people 
lives,  builds  and  struggles,  and  in  whose  bosom  our 
fathers'  bones  rest.  He  knew  its  frontiers,  its  seas, 
its  secret  smiling  lakes  and  its  fir-grown  ridges, 
extending  like  brushwood  fences.  The  picture  of 
our  land  as  a  whole,  with  its  features,  kind  as  a 
mother's,  had  impressed  itself  once  for  all  in  the 
depths  of  his  heart." 

As  Kivi's  work  is  almost  unknown  outside  Fin- 
land, and  owing  to  the  extreme  difficulty  of  transla- 
tion is  likely  long  to  remain  so,  the  following  vivid 
incident  may  serve  to  give  an  indication  of  his 
quality.  The  brothers,  in  celebrating  Christmas  out 
in  the  forest,  had  got  fighting,  and  as  a  result  their 
hut  was  set  on  fire  and  nearly  all  their  belongings 


148  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

burned.  It  was  night  and  they  were  practically 
naked,  for  they  had  been  partaking  of  the  Christmas 
bath,  but  they  would  die  of  cold  if  they  stayed  where 
they  were  and  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  make 
for  the  nearest  shelter. 

^^Thus  they  betook  themselves  on  their  journey, 
naked,  save  for  their  tow-yarn  shirts  and  carrying 
each  his  birch-wood  knapsack  on  his  back  and  his 
gun  over  his  shoulder  or  in  his  hand.  Thus  they 
trod  the  dark  and  wintry  road,  fleeing  from  the  cold 
which  came  rushing  upon  them  from  the  marshes  of 
the  north.  Yet  it  did  not  show  them  its  most  terrible 
countenance.  Winter  did  not  this  time  put  forth  all 
its  severity.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  face  of  the 
heavens  was  bare,  but  the  sailing  clouds  covered  it 
again  and  it  blew  but  moderately  from  the  north. 
And  the  brothers  were  accustomed  to  cold.  Their 
skins  had  been  tanned  by  the  cracking  cold  of  many 
a  winter,  and,  formerly,  as  unruly  boys,  they  had 
often  gone  barefoot  for  hours  at  a  time  and  been 
stuck  in  snow-drifts.  Nevertheless,  this  journey 
from  Impivaara  to  Jukola  was  ghastly,  terrifyingly 
ghastly.  They  hastened  forward  with  dread  at 
heart.  At  the  head  rode  Eero  and  Simeoni  on 
Valko's  back;  the  others  followed  them,  running  at 
their  heels,  trampling  the  snows  of  the  wilderness 
amidst  the  driving  snow.  But  at  Impivaara,  close 
to  the  stove,  the  stones  of  which  were  still  glowing, 
sat  the  cat  and  the  cock,  gazing  sadly  at  the  charred 
ruins. 

'^The  brothers  hastened  in  the  direction  of  the 
village ;  already  they  had  left  Sompio  Marsh  behind 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  149 

them  and  were  approaching  Teerimaki,  where  the 
terrible  howl  of  the  wolves  was  continually  audible. 
But  at  the  moorland  between  the  marsh  and  Sennala 
Matties  clearing  there  was  a  change  of  riders:  Eero 
and  Simeoni  dismounted  and  two  of  the  other 
brothers  quickly  took  their  places.  Without  delay 
they  continued  on  their  journey,  plunged  across  the 
rising  moor,  crossed  the  road  leading  to  Viertola, 
and  went  on  through  the  wide  and  murmuring  pine 
forest.  At  last  they  approached  the  rocky  hill  at 
Teerimaki  and  suddenly  the  many-voiced  and  wild 
crying  of  the  wolves  ceased.  Soon  they  stood  at  the 
top  of  the  hill  and  gave  their  horse  breathing-time ; 
the  riders  got  off  its  back  and  two  others  at  once 
took  their  places.  Still  they  remained  on  the  snowy 
hill-top ;  the  north  wind  blew,  the  sky  momentarily 
cleared  again,  and  the  pole  of  Charles's  Wain 
showed  that  it  was  past  midnight. 

^^But  when  they  had  rested,  the  brothers  hastened 
onward  again,  following  the  level  route  over  the 
hills  and,  when  that  ended,  descending  into  the  dark 
forest  where  nature  lay  gloomy  around  them.  The 
moon  looked  down  palely,  the  owls  shrieked,  and 
here  and  there  in  the  depth  of  this  wilderness  stood 
a  strange  shape,  like  a  forest  bear,  terrifyingly 
huge — it  was  the  mossy  upturned  roots  of  fallen 
pines.  Like  rigid  and  motionless  ghosts,  these  bear- 
shapes  stared  at  the  strange  procession  that  rushed 
past  them.  Without  a  movement  they  gazed,  but 
between  them  and  among  them  there  soon  arose  in 
the  desolate  forest  an  awful  movement.  For  now 
the  hungry  wolves  were  collecting  on  the  tracks  of 


150  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  brothers,  coming  nearer  and  nearer  to  them. 
Now  in  front,  now  behind,  now  rustling  over  the 
path  or  between  the  trees  on  either  side  of  it, 
glimpses  could  be  caught  of  them  hurrying  along. 
Furious  and  bloodthirsty,  they  followed  the  fugi- 
tives from  Impivaara;  there  was  a  cracking  and  a 
snapping  around  them  when  the  dry  pine  branches 
broke.  Valko  trembled  and  snorted  nervously,  and 
the  man  who  was  riding  in  front  could  scarcely  pre- 
vent him  from  bolting.  The  wolves  ventured  nearer 
and  nearer.  Panting  and  bloodthirsty,  they  often 
swung  past  the  men  at  close  quarters,  and  in  order 
to  frighten  them  the  brothers  sometimes  fired  off 
their  guns  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  but  the  wolves 
did  not  retreat  far. 

*^Now  they  came  to  Kiljava  moor.  Here  and 
there  stood  the  withered  trunk  of  a  pine,  the  home  of 
hawk  and  owl.  The  fury  of  the  wolves  became 
terrible  and  the  men  were  in  fearful  peril.  Tuomas 
and  Timo  were  riding,  but  the  others,  who  were 
running  after  them,  suddenly  stopped  and  almost 
simultaneously  fired  a  sharp  volley  at  their  pur- 
suers, who  shrank  back  from  it  and  withdrew  a  lit- 
tle. Once  more  the  men  rushed  on,  but  it  wasn't 
long  before  the  bay  of  the  pursuing  wolves  was 
again  heard  around  them  and  the  danger  was 
greater  than  ever.  Then  Tuomas  pulled  up  the 
horse  and  said  in  a  loud  voice:  ^If  your  guns  are 
empty,  load  at  once — as  quick  as  lightning.'  Thus 
he  cried,  and  dismounted,  bidding  Timo  hold  on  to 
Valko.  The  brothers  stood  still  and  loaded,  and 
felt  no  cold  either  in  their  feet  or  in  any  other  part. 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  151 

The  wolves,  too,  stood  still,  fifty  paces  from  the  men, 
staring  continually  at  them  with  their  ravenous  eyes 
and  lashing  their  tails  in  eager  anticipation. 

'  ^  Tuomas.    Are  our  guns  loaded  ? 

''Aapo,    Yes.    What  shall  we  do ? 

'^Fuhani,    All  at  once! 

^^ Tuomas,  No,  if  we  love  our  lives!  Some  one's 
gun  must  always  be  loaded — remember  that.  Lauri, 
you  have  the  steadiest  hand  and  sharpest  eye,  stand 
by  me. 

''Lauri.    Here  I  am.    What  do  you  want? 

''Tuomas.  A  hungry  wolf  will  even  eat  its  bleed- 
ing brother.  If  we  could  bring  that  off,  we  are 
saved.  Let  us  try.  Lauri,  we  will  aim  at  the  one  in 
front  on  the  left,  but  you  others,  reserve  your  fire. 
Lauri,  look  sharp  as  an  eagle  and  fire  when  I  give 
the  word  *Now.' 
Lauri.    Ready. 


"Tuomas.    Now. 


**They  both  shot  at  the  same  instant  and  the 
wolves  fled  in  hot  flight.  But  one  of  them  remained 
on  the  spot  and  tried  to  hobble  after  the  others,  but 
in  vain.  The  men  hastened  onward  again  with 
might  and  main:  six  brothers  on  foot,  and  Timo 
alone  on  the  horse  in  front  of  them.  Thus  it  continued 
for  a  while.  But  soon  the  wolves  ceased  their  flight, 
wheeled  round  and  hurried  once  more  towards  the 
men.  The  driving  snow  rustled  and  the  level 
plateau  of  Kiljava  resounded  when  they  rushed  for- 
ward in  a  pack.  At  wild  speed  they  reached  their 
comrade  who  was  writhing  in  his  own  blood,  dashed 
by  him,  but  quickly  swung  round  as  the  smell  of 


152  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

blood  arose  temptingly  to  their  nostrils.  They 
slewed  round,  their  tails  lashed,  the  snow  whirled 
in  a  blizzard,  eyes  lusting  for  blood  gleamed  in  the 
night.  Horrible  to  see,  they  rushed  in  a  band  at 
their  wounded  brother,  and  a  frightful  howling  and 
tumult  arose  on  the  moor;  one  might  have  thought 
the  pillars  of  the  sky  were  broken.  The  ground 
shook  and  the  snow  was  transformed  into  a  wild 
mess,  where  his  former  friends  tore  to  pieces  the  son 
of  the  wilderness  whose  blood  the  sure  aim  Tuomas 
and  Lauri  had  caused  to  flow.  But  silence  reigned 
once  more  over  the  midnight  moor.  Nothing  could 
be  heard  except  soft  breathing  and  the  crunching  of 
bones  as,  with  bloody  muzzles  and  glittering  eyes, 
the  creatures  eagerly  tore  to  pieces  their  victim. 

^*But  far  from  their  terrible  foes  the  brothers 
journeyed  on,  and  like  music  in  their  ears  was  the 
murderous  clamour  of  the  wolves  at  Kiljava — for 
them  it  was  the  sweet  and  joyful  message  of  safety.'' 

II.  AHO 

Kivi  was  followed  by  Pietari  Paivarinta,  a  peas- 
ant who  lived  in  Osterbotten.  In  the  'seventies, 
when  he  was  already  a  middle-aged  man,  he  fell  on 
the  ice  one  day,  broke  his  leg,  and  was  laid  up  for 
several  weeks.  He  employed  the  time  in  writing  a 
novel  which  was  largely  an  autobiography.  It  de- 
scribed how  he  was  one  of  many  children  in  a  poor 
peasant  home,  where  hunger  often  knocked  at  the 
door;  how  during  one  portion  of  his  childhood  he 
even  had  to  beg,  how  he  learned  to  read  and  write 
without  going  to  school,  and  how  when  twelve  years 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  153 

old  he  went  into  service.  Soon  after  coming  of  age 
he  marries,  and  a  new  struggle  begins.  He  and  his 
wife  borrow  money  and  buy  a  piece  of  uncultivated 
land,  on  which  they  build  a  cottage  for  themselves 
and  work  manufuUy  until  they  are  finally  able  to 
pay  off  the  debt  and  bring  up  a  numerous  family  in 
well-being.  Prosperity,  however,  brings  trials  of  its 
own.  The  hero  is  elected  to  responsible  positions 
in  the  commune,  which  take  him  away  from  home- 
life,  and  gradually  begins  to  drink.  On  one  occa- 
sion, when  drunk,  he  maltreats  his  wife,  but  this  mis- 
deed proves  his  salvation,  for  he  is  conscience- 
stricken,  reforms,  and  henceforth  leads  an  exempla- 
ry life. 

This  may  serve  as  a  type  of  the  peasant  novel  in 
Finland.  There  is  little  action,  but  the  description 
has  all  the  fascination  and  the  originality  of  truth. 
It  succeeds  in  rendering  the  real  and  unmistakable 
atmosphere  of  Finnish  peasant  life,  with  its  depth 
and  its  simplicity.  One  is  thankful  that  the  Fin- 
nish peasant  has  not  been  too  overwhelmed  by  the 
prestige  that  surrounds  authors  to  dare  thrust  him- 
self into  those  sacred  ranks.  It  is  known  that 
Paivarinta  hesitated  to  do  so,  but  once,  when  in 
Helsingf  ors,  he  saw  Topelius  and  other  writers,  and 
discovered  that  they  were  ordinary  human  beings, 
upon  which  he  felt  entitled  to  try  his  own  hand  at 
composition. 

The  Finnish  novel  is  not,  of  course,  free  from  the 
defects  of  its  origin.  Among  the  early  writers  there 
is  a  lack  of  selection,  a  formlessness  and  a  long- 
windedness  which,  as  we  saw,  characterizes  the  de- 


154  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

scrip tions  of  things  in  the  ^^Kalevala"  also.  But 
against  this  must  be  set  the  virtues  of  freshness  of 
vision  and  faithfulness  of  representation.  These 
writers  know  what  they  are  talking  about,  and  they 
give  us  life  near  the  marrow.  The  subjects  which 
they  choose  are  drawn  from  their  own  struggles 
against  cold  and  hunger  and  darkness,  the  diffi- 
culties of  rearing  a  family  and  so  on.  Birth,  growth, 
love,  decay  and  death  are  described  as  they  appear 
to  the  peasant.  As  we  read,  we  peep  into  the 
peasant's  soul.  There  is  a  na'ive  realism  about  it. 
He  does  not  idealize  his  fellow-peasants  in  the  spirit 
of  a  Rousseau,  he  writes  of  them  just  as  he  knows 
them — just  as  we  might  write  of  mutual  acquaint- 
ances to  friends  whom  we  know  well. 

Quite  a  large  number  of  peasant  novelists  ap- 
peared after  Paivarinta,  but  as,  when  space  is  lim- 
ited, it  seems  advisable  to  concentrate  attention  on 
the  larger  figures  only,  I  shall  pass  by  such  inter- 
esting writers  as  Kauppis-Heikki,  Santeri  Alko, 
Heikki  Merilainen  and  Juhani  Kokko  (better  known 
as  Kyosti),  and  pass  at  once  to  Juhani  Aho,  who, 
however,  does  not  spring  from  the  peasantry,  but 
from  the  clergy. 

When  we  reach  Juhani  Aho  we  enter  upon  a  new 
stage  in  the  art  of  Finnish  novel-writing.  In  the 
course  of  an  illuminating  study,  Professor  Soder- 
hjelm  says  of  him  that  *'his  life-work  in  the  service 
of  Finnish  literature  is  something  that,  in  the  litera- 
ture of  many  other  countries,  only  a  long  develop- 
ment, often  embracing  several  generations,  has 
brought  about.     He  has  in  an  astonishingly  short 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  155 

time  effected  a  revolution  in  Finnish  prose,  raised 
it  to  a  high  artistic  perfection.  His  peculiarity  and 
significance  consist  in  the  fact  that  he  has  responded 
with  the  same  sensitive  receptivity  to  the  influence 
both  of  Finnish  nature  and  national  character  and 
of  the  modern  currents  in  foreign  literature.  In 
the  best  of  his  art  he  is  completely  a  European ;  but 
the  deep  vein  of  personal  lyricism,  whose  murmur 
is  heard  in  all  his  writing,  has  never  been  diluted, 
and  the  inner  affinity  with  the  land  and  the  people 
which  makes  him  so  entirely  Finnish  has  never  been 
broken.  When  we  say  that  he  has  created  and  de- 
veloped a  modern  Finnish  art  of  story-telling,  we 
underline  the  three  words,  modern,  Finnish,  art, 
with  equal  emphasis. ' ' 

Juhani  Aho  was  born  in  1861  at  Idensalmi,  and  is 
said  to  have  received  his  first  literary  impetus  from 
a  groom,  who  used  to  recite  him  bits  out  of  Rune- 
berg  and  Walter  Scott.  He  is  a  tall,  fair  and  mas- 
sive man,  who  gives  one  the  impression  of  some 
ancient  chieftain.  He  lives  simply  and  works  in  the 
most  modest  of  studies,  from  which  he  overlooks 
the  open  sea  beyond  a  foreground  of  rocky  coast. 
The  summer  life  in  the  open  air  is  his  delight,  and 
he  is,  like  Runeberg,  an  enthusiastic  angler.  His 
strongest  literary  impressions  were  derived  from 
Runeberg  and  Topelius,  and,  later,  from  the  Nor- 
wegian realists  of  the  'eighties.  His  earlier  stories 
deal  with  Finnish  peasant  life.  In  ^^The  Railway" 
— ^to  the  writing  of  which  he  looks  back  with  great 
pleasure — ^he  records  with  great  insight  the  transi- 
tion when  the  remote  country-side  first  comes  into 


156  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

contact  with  modern  mechanical  civilization.  An- 
other good  example  is  his  short  story,  **When 
Father  brought  home  the  Lamp."  All  that  that 
wonderful  and  puzzling  new  implement  meant  to  the 
Finnish  country-side,  and  all  the  wonder  and  ad- 
miration it  evoked  among  the  neighbours,  is  brought 
out  with  rare  humour  and  sympathy.  Behind  the 
humour  and  the  fun,  there  is  a  suggestion  of  the 
lamp  as  sympolizing  the  triumph  of  light  over  dark- 
ness in  these  far-off  regions.  Finally,  there  is  a 
certain  regret  for  the  ancient  life  passing  away. 
Pekka,  an  old  labourer,  did  not  take  to  the  lamp, 
and  the  children  of  the  house  used  to  creep  out  to 
the  bath-house  to  be  with  the  old  man,  who  spent  the 
long  evenings  sitting  there  by  the  light  of  the  pare, 
and  to  listen  to  the  crickets,  who  had  forsaken  the 
dwelling  when  the  changes  took  place. 

Aho  presently  passes  to  a  study  of  life  among  the 
wealthier  classes,  as  in  **  Squire  Ilellman,"  **The 
Parson's  Daughter''  and  **To  Helsingf  ors. " 
**  Squire  Hellman"  is  a  broadly  humorous  study  of 
the  tables  turned  on  a  bully.  Through  the  first  half 
of  the  story  the  Squire  rushes  like  a  tornado,  the 
terror  of  his  wife,  servants  and  horses.  He  is  a 
mean  and  avaricious  man,  rack-rents  his  tenants  and 
is  loathed  by  the  neighbours,  on  whom  he  hurls  a 
force  of  invective  that  recalls  Squire  Beltham  in 
"Harry  Richmond."  His  uncontrollable  temper, 
however,  brings  him  into  conflict  with  the  authorities 
of  the  law  and  he  becomes  as  cringing  as  he  had 
formerly  been  domineering.  His  final  discomfiture, 
when  he  is  forced  to  spend  a  large  sum  of  money  on 


LANDMAEKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  157 

a  dinner  to  those  whom  he  has  insulted,  and  suffers 
agonies  at  every  glass  of  wine  that  is  drunk  and 
every  cigarette  that  is  smoked,  is  told  with  great 
spirit.  In  one  part  of  the  story  Aho  reveals  the 
psychological  interest  which  becomes  so  pronounced 
a  feature  of  his  later  novels.  It  is  when  Hellman 
drives  across  the  ice,  miserable  and  chilled  to  the 
bone,  and  for  a  moment  sees  himself  as  the  ugly 
thing  he  really  is  and  remembers  his  petty  thefts 
and  his  hardness  to  the  poor.  The  mood  soon  passes, 
as  it  would  in  so  shallow  a  nature,  and  is  replaced 
by  his  usual  bouncing  self-assertion.  Another  fea- 
ture of  the  story  is  the  sympathy  that  Aho  reveals, 
almost  unconsciously,  for  the  poor  whose  faces  Hell- 
man  grinds.  He  is  alive  to  the  evils  of  the  country- 
side, where  Hellmans  turn  beggar-women  and  their 
children  roughly  from  the  door  and  evict  unfor- 
tunate tenants. 

In  **The  Parson's  Daughter"  we  see  the  pathetic 
and  unsuccessful  struggle  of  a  girl  brought  up  in 
narrow  surroundings  at  a  country  parsonage  to 
liberate  herself  and  live  a  larger  life.  She  is  com- 
pelled to  marry  her  father's  curate,  a  man  she  does 
not  love,  and  in  a  later  and  much  finer  book,  **The 
Parson's  Wife,"  we  see  the  intolerable  married  life 
that  opens  out  its  weary  vista  before  her.  Romance 
comes  to  her  in  the  person  of  a  lover,  and  her  chang- 
ing feelings  afford  Aho  the  opportunity  for  a  won- 
derfully fine  psychological  delineation.  She  resists 
the  exquisite  temptation,  but  her  life  seems  utterly 
valueless  and  broken.  *^To  Helsingfors"  shows 
how  a  boy,  who  has  been  educated  simply  in  the 


158  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

country,  becomes  a  student  and  is  brought  in  con- 
tact with  the  vices  of  the  larger  world  in  the  coun- 
try's capital.    It  is  a  painful  work. 

In  1889  Aho  paid  a  visit  to  Paris,  which  had  im- 
portant results  on  his  writing.  Hitherto  he  had 
written  in  the  rather  circumstantial  way  of  the 
peasant  novelists,  although  he  had  gifts  of  refine- 
ment and  vivid  perception  far  superior  to  theirs. 
But  in  France  he  learned  to  cut  away  unnecessary 
matter  and  concentrate.  The  result  is  seen  in  his 
volume  of  short  studies  entitled  ** Chips,"  the  first 
of  a  notable  series,  in  which  the  author  touches 
upon  a  great  variety  of  subjects  both  grave  and  gay. 
They  are  models  of  fine  workmanship  and  full  of 
atmosphere,  and  rank  as  some  of  Aho's  very  best 
work.  A  good  example  is  that  entitled  ** Pioneers." 
It  describes  in  a  very  few  pages  how  a  young  man 
and  a  girl  who  were  in  service  at  a  country  parson- 
age determined  to  get  married.  They  were  having  a 
nice  easy  time  of  it  in  service,  but  the  instinct  that 
brought  them  together  and  the  desire  to  start  a  home 
of  their  own  made  them  eager  to  face  a  life  that  could 
be  nothing  but  hard.  For  they  had  to  create  their 
little  holding  out  of  forest  and  rock-strewn  soil,  with 
hardly  any  capital  to  start  on.  And  so  they  marry 
and  are  full  of  hope,  though  the  parson,  who  realizes 
what  they  are  facing,  anxiously  shakes  his  head.  A 
few  years  later  we  see  the  man,  pale  and  worn  out, 
driving  his  wife 's  coffin  to  the  churchyard  on  a  tum- 
ble-down cart  drawn  by  a  poor  starved  horse.  The 
story  was  of  debts,  frost,  children,  a  sick  wife,  and 
then  her  death  from  overwork.    The  cottage  they 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  159 

had  entered  so  full  of  hope  was  now  untended  and 
desolate,  and  signs  that  the  struggle  had  been  too 
much  for  human  nature  were  all  around.  Neverthe- 
less, they  had  worked  valiantly.  Land  had  been 
cleared  for  corn,  and  birchwood  had  been  cut  down 
and  groves  of  alders  had  been  converted  into  mead- 
ows, *^but  behind  them  stood  the  dark  pine  forest 
like  an  unsurmountable  wall.  There  he  had  been 
obliged  to  stop. " 

*  *  The  first  pioneer  has  fulfilled  his  task ;  the  man 
can  do  no  more  good  there  now.  His  strength,  his 
energy  are  gone,  the  fire  of  lys  eye  is  extinguished 
and  the  self-confidence  of  his  marriage  morn  has 
forsaken  him.  Another  will  certainly  come  after 
him  and  take  over  the  cottage  plot.  He  perhaps  wiU 
have  better  luck.  But  he  will  have  a  lighter  task  to 
begin  with,  for  before  him  no  longer  stands  the  sav- 
age forest  quite  untouched  by  man.  He  can  settle 
down  into  a  ready-made  hut,  and  sow  in  the  plot  of 
land  which  another  has  ploughed  up  before  him. 
That  cottage  plot  will,  no  doubt,  become  a  large  and 
wealthy  farm,  and  in  course  of  time  a  village  will 
grow  up  around  it.  Nobody  thinks  of  those  who 
first  dug  up  the  earth  with  all  their  capital,  the  only 
capital  they  possessed — their  youthful  energies. 
They  were  merely  a  simple  lad  and  lass,  and  both  of 
them  came  there  with  empty  hands. 

**But  it  is  just  with  such  pople's  capital  that  Fin- 
land's wildernesses  have  been  rooted  up  and  con- 
verted into  broad  acres.  Had  these  two  only  re- 
mained at  the  parsonage,  he  as  a  coachman  and  she 
as  a  housemaid,  then  perhaps  the  course  of  their  own 


160  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

lives  would  have  been  free  enough  of  care.  But  the 
wilderness  would  not  have  been  cultivated,  and  the 
f  oreposts  of  civilization  would  not  have  been  planted 
in  the  midst  of  the  forest. 

**When  the  rye  blooms  and  the  ears  of  the  corn 
ripen  in  our  field,  let  us  call  to  mind  these  first  mar- 
tyrs of  colonization.  We  cannot  raise  monuments 
upon  their  graves,  for  the  tale  of  them  is  by  thou- 
sands, and  their  names  we  know  not."  ^ 

Aho's  gaiety  and  humour  find  expression  in  an- 
other of  these  *' Chips,"  entitled  *^Sasu  Punanen." 
Sasu  was  **fat,  lazy,  sleepy,  taciturn,  with  no  inter- 
ests, no  enthusiasm,"  the  dullest  fellow  on  earth. 
But  beware  of  passing  judgment.  You  have  to  see 
a  man  in  his  own  sphere  to  know  what  he  is  worth. 
Sasu's  sphere  is  the  Finnish  bath.  He  prepares  for 
it  as  other  people  might  prepare  for  confirmation. 
One  day  he  persuades  a  friend  to  go  with  him  and 
we  see  Sasu  in  all  his  glory.  He  undresses  with 
religious  care — ' '  at  the  bath  one  must  undress  slowly 
and  not  as  if  one  would  rush  headforemost  into  the 
water" — and  arranges  his  discarded  garments  with 
the  exactitude  of  a  philosophic  system.  When  he 
has  finished  this  he  admires  himself  long  and  lov- 
ingly in  front  of  a  looking-glass  before  proceeding 
into  the  bath-hut.  The  birch  twigs  must  not  be 
warmed  before  he  is  there,  for  fear  of  losing  the 
smell  of  them,  which  is  the  **best  thing  in  the  whole 
bath."    Finally  he  gives  the  order  for  the  water  to 

^  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  excellent  translation  by  Mr.  K. 
Nisbet  Bain  in  "Squire  Hellman  and  Other  Stories"  (Fisher 
Unwin). 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  161 

be  thrown  on  the  hot  stones,  and  the  steam  and  heat 
become  so  intolerable  that  both  his  friends  and  the 
old  bath-woman  cry  him  mercy.  **The  stones  hiss 
like  a  hundred  spitting  cats;  it  seems  to  me  as  if 
they  would  suddenly  rush  at  me,  strike  their  sharp 
claws  into  my  body  and  tear  me  to  pieces."  But 
Sasu  just  revels  in  it,  and  when  the  bath-woman 
says,  **Youll  burn  yourself  and  me  too,"  he  an- 
swers, ^^Why,  it's  simply  nothing  as  yet  .  .  .  how 
will  you  stand  it  in  hellT'  And  so  he  proceeds 
through  the  mighty  ceremony,  now  taking  an  active 
part,  now  passive  in  the  bath-woman's  hands,  now 
calling  for  beer  to  increase  his  sublime  perspiration. 
''What  he  thinks  of  I  don't  know,  but  he  seems  to 
me  a  genius  in  comparison  with  myself,  a  giant 
genius  among  all  bath  geniuses.  If  the  Finns  in 
past  days  had  a  bath-god,  a  bath-hero,  whom  they 
worshipped,  he  must  have  looked  like  this." 

Aho's  tragic  power  and  the  concentration  of  his 
writing  are  nowhere  seen  better  than  in  his  novel 
* '  Outlawed. ' '  The  hero  is  a  strong  and  silent  young 
peasant  for  whom,  like  his  prototype  KuUervo,  all 
things  in  life  go  wrong.  The  first  words  of  the 
story  strike  its  key-note — ''Leave  him  in  peace." 

Junnu  is  the  son  of  a  prostitute,  and  in  his  youth 
was  imprisoned  for  stealing  a  dish  of  sour  milk — an 
escapade  to  which  he  was  egged  on  by  other  boys. 
Those  at  the  farm  where  he  now  works  readily  take 
advantage  of  his  good-nature,  but  in  spite  of  his 
great  physical  strength  and  occasional  outbursts  of 
terrible  exasperation  they  all  despise  him  and  make 


162  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

his  life  a  burden  to  him.  He  longs  to  be  alone,  away 
from  them  all,  where  he  can  be  in  peace.  He  obtains 
permission  from  the  farmer  who  employs  him  to 
settle  as  a  torpare  in  a  remote  part  of  the  forest,  far 
from  human  habitation.  There  he  builds  himself  a 
hut  and  lives  alone  with  his  horse  and  cow,  and  be- 
gins to  taste  of  happiness,  though  never  without  the 
suspicion  that  it  cannot  last,  that  evil  is  impending. 
He  does  everything  he  can  think  of  to  exclude  the 
possibility  of  his  being  interfered  with  on  any  pre- 
text by  the  outside  world,  and  to  propitiate  the 
Fates,  which  have  always  been  so  hard  on  him,  and 
gradually  his  bitterness  melts  away  and  his  fore- 
bodings vanish.  But  now  when  he  has  at  last  at- 
tained a  measure  of  serenity,  a  blow,  stunning  and 
incredible,  falls.  He  hears  the  sound  of  axes  in  the 
forest  and  from  a  hill-top  sees  a  straight  line  being 
cut  through  the  trees.  It  advances  day  by  day  and 
comes  nearer  and  nearer  his  own  hut.  Finally  hu- 
man beings  appear — engineers  who  are  superintend- 
ing the  new  railway.  They  actually  enter  his  hut 
and  make  themselves  at  home  there.  Soon  after,  the 
navvies  arrive  and  he  sees  the  fields  he  had  cleared 
and  ploughed  and  sown  with  such  energetic  love 
trampled  under  foot  and  made  hideous  with  the  ap- 
pliances of  modern  building.  He  is  informed  that  he 
must  go,  for  the  railway  is  to  pass  right  over  the 
spot  where  his  hut  stands.  He  cannot  even  get  com- 
pensation, for  the  land  is  not  his,  and  it  is  only  the 
crafty  and  farseeing  farmer  who  stands  to  gain  by 
Junnu's  improvements.  The  navvies  mock  him  and 
regard  him  as  half  mad,  and  presently  he  dare  not 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  163 

leave  his  hut  out  of  sight  for  fear  the  threat  of  pull- 
ing it  down  should  be  carried  out.  He  becomes  as 
much  a  prisoner  as  if  he  were  locked  up  in  a  cell. 
Finally  the  sheriff  comes  along,  and  Junnu,  furious 
at  the  destruction  of  his  home,  with  its  cargo  of 
hopes  and  dreams,  and  maddened  at  the  way  he  has 
been  cheated  both  by  man  and  by  fate,  insults  him 
and  thus  hastens  the  evil  hour.  The  order  to  pull 
down  the  hut  is  given  forthwith.  There  is  a  wild 
scene  as  Junnu  rushes  out,  threatening  to  kill  the 
first  man  who  touches  it,  and  pulls  down  the  ladder 
on  which  a  man  has  ascended  nearly  to  the  roof.  The 
man  is  not  killed,  but  Junnu  is  seized  and  bound  and 
laid  unconscious  on  his  own  sledge.  When  he  comes 
to,  he  sees  the  ladder  again  standing  against  the 
wall  of  his  hut,  and  as  he  is  driven  off  to  prison  the 
roof  beams  are  already  falling. 

Junnu  emerges  from  prison  weak  and  miserable 
and  with  a  mind  distraught  by  suffering  and  the 
sense  of  injustice.  He  comes  back  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  his  old  home  and  finds  the  railway  line  com- 
pleted. His  horse  has  been  sold  for  a  song  to  a  man 
he  hates,  but  his  cow  at  least  is  safe  in  the  hands  of 
an  old  woman.  He  goes  out  eagerly  to  look  for  it. 
There  it  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  line,  at  the  head  of 
some  other  cows.  It  recognizes  its  master,  lows  and 
comes  towards  him.  **But  when  it  reaches  the  line 
and  is  about  to  cross,  the  locomotive  is  already  whis- 
tling at  the  curve  and,  belching  forth  smoke  on  either 
side,  rushes  forward  at  full  speed. 

*  *  The  cow  stops  in  the  middle  of  the  line,  is  dumb- 
founded, stares  at  the  locomotive  and  can  move 


164  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

neither  forwards  nor  backwards.  The  engine  whis- 
tles and  toots,  but  cannot  check  its  course. 

**Junnu  rushes  forward,  waves  his  hands  and 
shouts,  seizes  his  cow  by  the  horns;  it  backs  the 
more  he  pulls  it  forwards  and  advances  when  he 
pushes  it  back  .  .  .  and  he  has  already  got  it  half 
over  the  rails  when  the  engine,  its  drivers  cursing 
and  shaking  their  fists  and  the  brakes  creaking  ter- 
ribly, drives  over  his  cow,  cuts  it  in  two  before  him 
and  trails  along  one  half  of  its  body  while  its  fore- 
quarters  remain  in  Junnu's  hands. 

**It  still  lives  some  moments  while  he  holds  it  by 
the  horns ;  it  throws  up  its  neck,  moves  its  legs  as  if 
to  extricate  itself,  but  then  falls  unconscious  on  the 
embankment  at  Junnu's  feet,  its  eyes  staring  at 
him.'' 

After  this,  Junnu,  with  every  hope  shattered,  dis- 
appears. But  from  the  forest  he  has  watched  men 
working  on  the  railway  and,  maddened  by  suffering, 
he  gets  the  idea  of  wrecking  the  festival  train  which 
is  to  be  run  in  celebration  of  the  opening  of  a  new 
part  of  the  line.  Thus  he  will  be  revenged  on  the 
whole  pack  of  his  enemies. 

We  see  him  dripping  with  sweat,  as  he  struggles 
feverishly  to  loosen  a  sleeper.  Finally  he  gets  one 
nail  out,  but  another  still  holds  fast  when  he  hears 
the  engine  whistle  as  it  leaves  the  neighbouring  sta- 
tion. *^ Shall  he  leave  it  to  another  time?  No;  he 
cannot,  he  will  not.  It  must  be  now,  now,  that  all 
his  sufferings  are  to  be  avenged.  He  grasps  his  axe 
and  begins  to  hew  at  the  sleeper.  But  the  axe  strikes 
a  stone,  sparks  fly.    Its  edge  is  spoiled.    The  train  is 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  165 

already  in  motion,  its  roar  comes  nearer  and  nearer. 
Again  he  grasps  the  pole,  presses  it  under  the  rail 
and  throws  himself  on  it  with  all  his  might.  The  rail 
is  lifted,  the  sleeper  smashes,  the  nail  comes  up. 
.  .  .  Now  he  has  them !  But  when  he  makes  another 
effort,  and  hears  the  noise  of  the  train  echoed  by  the 
sides  of  the  cutting,  the  pole  breaks  and  he  falls  on 
his  back  on  the  line.  He  springs  up  ferociously, 
grasps  the  rail  in  his  hands,  tears  it  with  his  fingers, 
bites  it  with  his  teeth,  and  he  knows  not  what. 
.  .  .  The  engine  whistles  behind  him.  It  will  escape 
him ;  they  will  be  saved,  they  will  drive  over  him.  . .  . 
No,  never.  He  jumps  aside,  perceives  the  engine  with 
its  waving  flags,  its  shining  eyes,  rush  towards  him, 
whistling  and  clattering,  and  quick  as  lightning  a 
new  thought  darts  through  his  brain.  .   .   . 

**He  bends  down,  puts  his  arms  round  a  mighty 
stone,  lifts  it  up,  rushes  back  to  the  line,  shuts  his 
eyes,  flings  the  block  at  the  hurtling  monster,  hears 
a  frightful  crash  and  reels  senseless  from  the  em- 
bankment into  the  ditch. 

**When  he  comes  to,  he  finds  himself  lying  on  his 
back  as  if  on  a  moving  floor,  surrounded  by  men  who 
shriek  and  gesticulate ;  he  recognizes  the  engineers, 
the  sheriff,  the  farmer  and  Tahvo  .  .  .  his  head  is 
aching,  the  engine  whistles  spitefully,  smoke  eddies 
before  his  eyes  and  he  knows  that  he  is  on  the  gala 
train,  which  carries  him  swiftly  to  the  town — ^for 
ever. ' ' 

Such  is  the  end  of  this  tragic  and  vivid  story,  in 
which  Aho  represents  symbolically  and  in  a  charac- 
teristic Finnish  setting  the  struggle  between  a  man's 


166  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

desire  to  express  himself  and  the  forces  of  society 
which  often  ruthlessly  crush  out  both  the  desire  and 
the  man. 

Of  late  years  Aho  has  gradually  receded  from 
realism,  and  has  written  several  historical  novels 
and  several  stories  whose  scene  is  laid  in  the  past. 
The  idealistic  and  romantic  side  of  his  nature,  al- 
ways strong,  has  more  and  more  gained  the  upper 
hand.  It  is  nowhere  more  beautifully  apparent  than 
in  his  descriptions  of  Finnish  scenery.  Professor 
Soderhjelm  writes  finely:  ** Finnish  nature  is  mir- 
rored in  his  writing  as  faithfully  as  in  the  most 
perfect  picture.  No  one  has  rendered  as  he  has  the 
tranquillity  of  summer  evenings  with  their  clear 
and  silent  atmosphere,  where  the  stroke  of  an  oar 
or  the  sound  of  a  cow-bell  is  heard  for  miles,  over 
quiet  fjords  and  moors,  or  the  light  of  the  sunset 
on  cottage  windows  on  distant  heights.  The  gaiety 
of  the  winter  day  and  the  desolation  of  the  winter 
night  live  in  some  strokes  of  his  pen  with  the  same 
force  as  the  light  and  peacefulness  of  June  nights. 
Over  all  his  writing  lies  very  much  of  the  inmost 
essence  of  Finnish  landscape:  the  gentle  harmony, 
the  sad  intensity,  the  peaceful  lines,  the  mildly  vary- 
ing colour." 

III.      TOPELIUS 

Swedish  literature  in  Finland  differs  considerably 
from  Swedish  literature  proper,  just  as  American 
literature  differs  considerably  from  English.  Even 
in  respect  of  language  the  distinction  sometimes 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  167 

makes  itself  felt,  and  still  more  in  respect  of  feeling, 
atmosphere  and  tradition. 

The  truth  of  this  is  seen  when  we  glance  at  Rune- 
berg's  predecessor,  Franzen  (1772-1847).  He  was 
the  son  of  a  merchant  at  Ule^borg,  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Abo,  became  Porthan's  favourite  pupil, 
and  subsequently  was  made  Professor  of  History. 
He  is  best  remembered  for  his  poetry,  however;  he 
had  a  fine  lyrical  gift  and  a  great  power  of  convey- 
ing the  beauty  of  northern  scenery  and  the  simpler 
emotions  of  northern  folk.  But  when  Finland  was 
separated  from  Sweden  he  left  both  the  country  and 
the  best  part  of  his  poetic  gift  behind.  He  seemed 
to  lose  inspiration  when  he  was  cut  off  from  his 
native  soil,  and  his  work  seemed  a  little  strange  to 
the  people  of  Sweden.  As  a  Finnish  critic  writes, 
**  There  was  something  genuinely  Finnish  in  his  tem- 
perment  and  this  perhaps  prevented  him  from  pene- 
trating in  Sweden  as  he  did  here." 

In  dealing  with  Runeberg  in  an  earlier  chapter, 
we  have  already  spoken  of  the  most  striking  figure 
in  the  Swedish  literature  of  Finland,  but  we  have  by 
no  means  exhausted  its  interest.  During  their  years 
in  Helsingfors,  Runeberg  and  his  wife  took  into 
their  house  a  young  Osterbotten  student,  Zacharias 
Topelius,  whose  literary  talents  were  greatly  stimu- 
lated by  this  association.  Topelius  was  the  son  of  a 
distinguished  father,  who  was  in  a  sense  the  fore- 
runner of  Lonnrot,  just  as  Franzen  was  in  some  re- 
spects the  forerunner  of  Runeberg.  The  elder  To- 
pelius, during  his  medical  journeys,  because  ac- 
quainted with  some  of  the  Finnish  runos,  immedi- 


168  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

ately  began  collecting  them,  and  published  a  collec- 
tion under  the  title  of  **  Ancient  Songs  of  the  Fin- 
nish People/^  His  son  Zacharias  was  born  in  1818, 
took  his  degree  in  1840,  and  the  following  year  was 
editing  the  Helsingfors  Tidningar.  He  was  very 
young  for  such  a  post,  but  through  his  friendship 
with  the  Runebergs  he  was  in  touch  with  literary  cir- 
cles. He  knew  personally  the  members  of  the  Satur- 
day Club,  and  though  he  was  not  old  enough  to  be- 
come a  member  himself,  in  the  early  days  he  was 
sometimes  present  at  their  meetings  as  a  silent  audi- 
tor. ^* During  these  Attic  nights,"  he  writes,  *^one 
could  become  acquainted  with  Runeberg's  quiet  hu- 
mour, Snellman's  merciless  logic,  Nervander's  sar- 
casms, Nordstrom 's  sallies,  sharp  as  needles,"  He 
was  thus  brought  up  in  the  great  traditions  of  the 
National  movement,  and  himself  handed  on  the  torch 
received  from  his  friends.  He  may  indeed  be  re- 
garded as  the  great  popularizer  of  the  movement. 
"With  less  original  force  than  several  of  his  prede- 
cessors, he  had  more  power  than  they  to  bring  the 
meaning  of  it  into  the  homes  of  unlearned  and  sim- 
ple men.  And  he  did  so  through  his  genius  for  sym- 
pathizing and  getting  on  with  children.  He  showed 
the  child  what  Finland  meant,  what  it  really  was  to 
be  a  child,  and  later,  a  citizen  of  his  beloved  country. 
This  seed  planted  in  the  minds  of  children  flowered 
in  them  when  they  came  to  years  of  maturity — 
flowered  in  a  patriotism  which  aimed  at  being  pre- 
pared not  merely  to  die  well  but  to  live  well  for  their 
country.  He  compiled  a  reader  for  the  Elementary 
Schools  entitled  *^The  Book  of  Our  Land,"  which  is 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  169 

a  model  of  what  such  a  book  should  be,  and  both  in- 
spires and  instructs  every  child.  It  consists  of  two 
hundred  readings,  divided  into  six  sections — ^the 
land,  the  people,  the  legends,  and  three  more  dealing 
with  the  history.  Much  more  important,  however, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  literature,  was  his  **  Read- 
ings for  Children,^'  a  collection  of  fairy  stories  and 
tales  of  adventure,  which  has  been  much  translated. 
Children  were  passionately  devoted  to  this  man 
with  the  heart  of  a  child,  and  in  his  old  age  Uncle 
Topelius  received  many  letters  from  young  admir- 
ers.   Here  is  a  specimen ; — 

My  dear  Uncle  Toppelius  Zakaeias, — 

I  do  so  long  for  my  dear  Toppelius.  You 
must  come  some  day  and  see  us  we  live  in  west 
church  street  we  will  come  to  the  station  to  meet  you, 
you  must  look  for  two  boys  with  stars  in  their  caps, 
you  ought  to  write  a  story-book  for  me  .  .  .  greet- 
ings from  my  mama  and  my  papa  and  my  brother 
and  greetings  from  my  sister  and  from  Karl-Johan 
Sandelin.  T  A   S 

6  years  the  7th  of  March. 

Topelius  had  indeed  a  rare  gift  of  inspiring  affec- 
tion. Professor  Werner  Soderhjelm,  describing  the 
poet's  visits  to  Helsingfors  in  his  old  age,  writes: 
**01d  and  young  are  personally  acquainted  with 
him;  the  latter  have  always  been  present  at  some 
school  fastival  he  has  visited,  or  been  members  of 
some  deputation  that  has  waited  upon  him,  or  of 
some  choir  that  has  sung  in  his  honour  on  a  sum- 


170  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

mer's  day  at  Bjorkudden — or  they  may  be  simply 
the  children  of  his  older  friends,  who  merely  on  this 
account  call  him  ^ Uncle'  and  regard  themselves  as 
quite  intimate  with  him." 

The  same  writer  records  an  incident  that  is  typi- 
cal. One  evening  a  group  of  young  artists  and  au- 
thors were  discussing  some  question  or  other  at  the 
principal  hotel,  when  Topelius  happened  to  come  in 
and  was  persuaded  to  join  them.  Warmed  by  his 
enthusiastic  reception,  he  rose  and  made  a  speech 
that  they  never  forgot,  *  *  about  the  old  that  goes  and 
the  new  that  comes  in  its  place,  about  the  heritage 
left  by  those  who  depart  and  which  the  young  must 
preserve,  about  the  high  mission  of  art  in  our  land, 
where  it  has  to  walk  along  untrodden  ways." 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Topelius 
was  without  original  talent  or  was  only  appreciated 
by  young  people.  Both  as  a  poet  and  writer  of  his- 
torical romance  he  ranks  high.  ''The  Tales  of  a 
Surgeon"  has  been  much  translated  and  is  de- 
servedly popular.  It  tells  in  a  rather  discursive  way 
and  with  great  variety  of  incident  the  history  of  Fin- 
land, beginning  from  the  time  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War.  It  is  as  if  an  old  man  spent  his  winter  even- 
ings chatting  to  you  over  the  fire  and  telling  you  of 
his  past  life.  Topelius  became  Professor  of  His- 
tory, but  there  is  little  of  the  professor  about  these 
tales.  He  just  talks  in  an  intimate  way  about  things, 
he  loves.  Most  of  all  he  loves  his  country,  and  espe- 
cially his  native  Osterbotten.  You  see  the  people 
there,  understand  just  how  they  are  planted  on  the 
soil,  and  how  their  lives  are  affected  by  the  great  do- 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  171 

ings  in  the  outside  world.  Then  you  see  how  they 
were  called  on  to  take  a  share  in  them.  He  loves  to 
show  you  their  great  deeds  abroad,  and  to  describe 
their  fighting  qualities  in  the  campaigns  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus.  Most  of  the  great  characters  of  that  time 
are  introduced  into  the  story,  and  there  are  vivid 
pictures  of  popular  life  in  different  countries.  The 
threads  connecting  the  different  periods  covered 
are  furnished  by  two  families,  whose  history  is 
traced  through  several  generations  with  something 
of  the  comprehensiveness  which  Tolstoi  devotes  to 
the  principal  families  in  **War  and  Peace." 

Perhaps  Topelius  will  be  remembered  best,  how- 
ever, by  his  lyrical  poetry. 

The  following  stanzas,  which  are  the  opening  of  an 
ode  of  thanksgiving  to  those  nations  of  Europe  (in- 
cluding Great  Britain^)  which  subscribed  gener- 
ously to  relieve  the  distress  occasioned  by  the  Finn- 
ish famine  of  1857,  may  be  quoted  as  an  example  of 
his  work.  They  are  not  without  their  applicability 
to  Finland  in  her  present  struggle  against  an  even 
worse  enemy  than  famine. 

On  the  world's  furthest  peopled  strand 
Fate  gave  to  us  a  fatherland, 
The  last  where  man  his  foot  has  set. 
Daring  the  North  PoWs  threat; 
The  last  and  wildest  stretch  of  earth 
Where  Europe's  genius  built  a  hearth; 
Her  last  and  furthest-flung  outpost 
'Gainst  night  and  death  and  frost. 

Tho'  we  are  few,  this  fight  of  ours 
'Gainst  darkness  and  wild  nature's  powers, 

^  Tha  British  fleet  had  attached  part  of  Finland  during  the 
Crimean  War. 


172  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Is  yet  Humanity's  own  fight 
For  constant  life  and  light. 
Our  conquest  is  its  conquest  too. 
And  if  we  fall,  then  'tis  most  true. 
There  falls  with  us  a  bulwark  strong 
Life's  forward  path  along. 

Faithfully  we've  obeyed  our  call, 
Bought  with  starvation,  death,  downfall. 
Each  yard  of  soil  we've  fenced  with  strife. 
And  rescued  thus  for  life. 
Life's  house  up  here  we've  builded  stout 
Where  once  lay  desert  all  about — 
This  is  our  thousand-year-old  deed. 
For  this  we  claim  Fame's  meed. 

It  is  chiefly  through  lyrical  poetry  that  the  Swed- 
ish-speaking Finns  have  expressed  themselves.  It 
is  impossible  here  to  give  an  account  of  the  many  fine 
poets  they  have  produced,  such  as  Stenback,  a  con- 
temporary of  Runeberg,  Wechsell,  who  wrote  in  the 
'sixties,  Tavaststjerna,  the  first  of  the  modern  real- 
ists in  Swedish  Finland  and  a  fine  lyrical  poet,  Ly- 
beck  and  others.  It  must  suffice  to  say  that  in  these 
troublous  days  for  Finland  the  fountain  of  song  has 
not  run  dry.  I  have  attempted  to  translate  poems  by 
two  of  the  younger  men.  The  first  is  a  song  in  praise 
of  Finland  by  Bertel  Gripenberg,  the  second,  by 
Hjalmar  Procope,  is  a  song  of  liberty  in  the  face  of 
Eussian  oppression. 

THE  FAIKEST  LAND 

The  fairest  land  is  the  northern  land. 

Where  the  forest  usurps  the  meadow, 
Where  the  ground  is  rocky,  barren,  and  dry. 

And  no  plough  has  driven  a  furrow. 


LANDMARKS  OF  FINNISH  LITERATURE  173 

Where  towering  pines,  with  mossy  bark. 

Defiant  strain  to  the  sky. 
And  high  o'er  the  silent  wilderness 

'Mid  the  cloudpack  the  eagles  fly. 

The  fairest  land  is  the  forest  land 

Which  dreams  in  the  silence  ever. 
It  binds  our  hearts  with  bonds  of  love 

That  none  may  forget  nor  sever. 
It  lures,  it  silently  draws  us  on 

With  urgent  and  secret  wooing, 
It  whispers  on  wild  untrodden  ways 

Trollsongs  in  the  forest's  soughing. 

Thou  haven  to  restless  and  homeless  thoughts, 

Thou  kingdom  of  lonely  dreams, 
Thou  northland's  endless  pine-clad  heath. 

Peerless  thy  beauty  streams; 
The  fairest,  dearest  land  I  know 

Is  the  land  of  forests,  the  wide. 
With  its  harsh  and  heroic  solitude 

Where  unborn  poems  abide. 

IN  SPITE  OF  ALL 

Let  the  blow  descend !    We  have  made  our  choice. 

And  we  are  resolved  to  live. 
Though  Asia  and'  all  her  Ural  hosts 

Strive  our  death-stroke  to  give. 

We  do  not  await  a  golden  spring, 

Nor  overflowing  barns  and  tuns. 
We  await  but  years  of  ruin  and  stress 

And  ravages  of  the  Huns. 

Yet,  ye  tyrants,  remember  in  time  your  guilt. 

Lest  the  day  of  revenge  come  down — 
!N'ot  for  ever  shall  Finland  only  shine 

As  a  gem  in  a  foreigner's  crown. 


CHAPTER  IX 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC 


FENNISH  painting  is  of  very  recent  develop- 
ment, and  its  early  stages  are  of  little  interest 
to  any  but  a  native  of  the  country.  It  drew  in- 
spiration in  turn  from  Sweden,  Italy  and  Germany, 
but  it  was  not  until  after  1880,  when  Finnish  artists 
turned  to  France,  and  more  especially  to  the  school 
of  Bastien  Lepage,  that  a  national  school  began  to 
develop.  Many  good  critics,  indeed,  would  object 
to  one  speaking  of  a  national  school  in  Finland, 
maintaining  that  the  Finnish  painters  have  not 
evolved  a  new  and  distinctive  vision  or  technique, 
but  have  merely  painted  Finnish  subjects  in  a 
French  way.  This  is  a  matter  on  which  the  writer 
is  not  competent  to  express  an  opinion.  It  is  at  least 
certain  that  even  if  she  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing work  that  is  original  in  the  very  highest 
sense  of  the  word,  Finland  can  point  to  artists  who 
in  any  country  would  be  distinguished. 

The  first  of  these  was  Albert  Edelfelt,  who  occu- 
pies in  the  sphere  of  painting  a  position  similar  to 
that  held  by  Runeberg  in  the  sphere  of  poetry.  The 
objection  is  sometimes  raised  that  he  is  too  Swedish 

174      ^ 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC  175 

to  be  representative  of  Finland,  and  it  is  indeed  true 
that  he  has  never  portrayed,  like  GaUen,  the  wildest 
and  most  barbaric  side  of  the  Finnish  soul.  But, 
taking  his  work  all  round,  he  stands  for  Finland 
more  completely  than  any  other  painter,  and,  in  spite 
of  strong  French  influences,  his  devotion  to  his  moth- 
erland makes  him  a  true  Finn.  His  picture  of  father, 
mother  and  daughter  going  down  to  the  seashore 
carrying  masts  and  oars  and  fishing-nets  is  a  symbol 
of  Finnish  life.  The  faces  and  hands  of  father  and 
mother  are  worn  and  weather-beaten  from  their  long 
struggle  to  wrest  a  living  from  the  sea,  which,  with 
its  rocks  and  islands,  is  a  characteristic  piece  of 
Finnish  landscape.  The  daughter,  who  walks  be- 
tween them  with  a  kerchief  over  her  head  and  the 
nets  over  her  shoulder,  is  gravely  sweet,  dreamy,  yet 
capable.  All  three  look  patient,  strong,  full  of  endur- 
ance, and  noble  with  the  dignity  which  comes  from 
living  face  to  face  with  elemental  things.  Edelfelt 
was  thoroughly  Finnish  in  his  love  of  portraying  the 
sea  and  the  life  of  the  island  folk,  and  these  are 
among  his  most  delightful  pictures.  There  is  the 
child's  funeral,  where  the  little  coffin  is  conveyed  in 
a  boat  across  the  blue  lagoon,  a  work  full  of  pathos 
and  beauty;  the  exhilarating  picture  where  the  old 
man  sails  his  boat  across  a  rough  sea,  his  daughter 
by  him ;  the  romantic  scene  of  young  girls  boating  on 
a  light  night  of  midsummer,  and  how  many  more. 
When  he  paints  the  meeting  of  Christ  and  Mary 
Magdalene  after  the  Eesurrection,  his  background  is 
a  Finnish  bay  and  a  birch  wood,  the  Christ  wears 
the  birch-bark  shoes  common  in  the  Finnish  country- 


176  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

side  and  the  woman  is  dressed  like  a  Finnish  peas- 
ant-girl. He  never  tires  of  portraying  the  worn  hon- 
est features  of  peasant  women  in  their  natural  sur- 
roundings, the  background  often  being  a  charming 
little  vignette  of  a  red-stained  Finnish  farm  or  cot- 
tage on  the  edge  of  its  native  woods,  in  which  the 
trunks  of  silver  birches  gleam  white  in  the  sunlight. 
He  has  also  left  charming  studies  of  the  summer  life 
of  the  upper  classes. 

Edelfelt  is  best  known  to  the  outside  world  as  a 
portrait  painter ;  people  of  all  ranks  and  conditions 
in  half  a  dozen  countries  sat  to  him.  His  portraits 
are  strong  and  convincing,  but  have  also  a  high  de- 
gree of  delicacy  and  charm.  They  are  less  accessible 
to  the  public  than  are  his  landscapes,  but  equally 
worthy  of  study.  That  of  the  singer  Aino  Ackte  in 
the  Athenaeum  at  Helsingfors  is  one  of  the  finest. 
There  is  also  a  striking  picture  of  the  actress  Ida 
Aalberg  as  Hedda  Gabler,  which  hangs  in  the  foyer 
of  the  Finnish  Theatre.  Interesting  portraits  of 
several  eminent  contemporaries,  including  Jean  Si- 
belius, are  introduced  into  the  fresco  which  adorns 
the  great  hall  at  the  University  and  represents  the 
foundation  of  the  University  at  Abo  in  1640.  This 
fine  work,  only  a  portion  of  which  was  completed, 
owing  to  Edelfelt 's  untimely  death,  was  but  one  of  a 
long  series  of  Finnish  historical  scenes  that  he 
painted  with  enthusiasm  throughout  his  life,  and 
which  had  a  real  effect  in  stamping  upon  the  popular 
imagination  some  of  the  great  events  of  Finnish  his- 
tory. Most  important  of  all  Edelfelt 's  works  in  this 
respect  were  his  illustrations  to  Runeberg's  **  Tales 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC  177 

of  Ensign  St^l  "  (see  p.  38).  Great  as  was  their  in- 
fluence from  their  first  appearance,  it  was  trebled 
after  Russia  had  begun  her  attack  on  Finnish  lib- 
erties, and  many  of  the  pictures  have  found  their 
way,  through  reproductions,  into  almost  every  Finn- 
ish home,  and,  by  giving  expression  to,  have  actually 
helped  to  form,  the  Finnish  soul.  The  drummer- 
boys  who  head  the  men  of  Bjorneborg  as  they  march 
through  the  snow ;  Dobeln,  risen  from  his  sick-bed  to 
lead  his  men  to  victory  at  Jutas ;  the  old  magistrate, 
his  face  lit  up  by  a  divine  light,  as,  with  hand  on  the 
book  of  law,  he  defies  and  finally  wins  over  the 
amazed  Eussian  general — these  are  an  inspiration 
to  noble  patriotism  to  all  Finnish  citizens,  and  may 
have  done  nearly  as  much  to  popularize  the  great 
deeds  of  their  ancestors  as  the  poems  of  Euneberg 
themselves. 

Since  Edelfelt's  death  by  far  the  most  striking 
figure  in  Finnish  painting  is  that  of  Axel  Gallen, 
who  is  still  in  his  prime.  He  came  under  the  same  in- 
fluences as  Edelf  elt  in  Paris,  but  is  in  most  respects 
a  great  contrast  to  him.  Edelf  elt  represents  that 
side  of  Finnish  nature  which  is  most  closely  con- 
nected with  West  Europe,  and,  while  he  makes  a  dis- 
tinctly national  impression,  his  pictures  do  not  give 
one  a  keen  shock  of  surprise  as  Gallen 's  do.  Edel- 
felt,  again,  chooses  his  subjects  mainly  from  the 
coast-lands  and  the  southern,  more  civilized  parts  of 
Finland,  while  Gallen  goes  preferably  to  the  wildest 
regions  of  the  interior  and  the  most  primitive  peo- 
ple. Edelf  elt 's  mentality  is  of  the  order  of  Eune- 
berg's  poems,  while  Gallen  has  gone  for  his  inspira- 


178  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

tion  to  the  ancient  legends  of  his  people  and  delights 
in  the  barbaric  extravagance,  and  the  wild  vastness 
of  the  ^^Kalevala"  world.  In  much  of  his  work  he 
is  the  spirit  of  man  before  it  has  been  disciplined 
and  civilized,  when  it  is  still  at  war  with  monsters 
and  at  the  mercy  of  primitive  incalculable  forces. 
His  people  seem  to  dwell  in  wild  pathless  forests  or 
by  huge  mysterious  seas,  and  to  be  in  some  ways 
pre-human  in  their  disposition.  He  loves  to  portray 
the  vast  melancholy  of  untilled  country,  the  almost 
terrible  silence  of  it,  the  life  of  the  forest  and  of  for- 
est creatures  before  man  has  dominated  them;  and 
man,  slow,  obstinate,  powerful  of  body  and  sad  of 
mind,  rude,  brutal,  patient,  indomitable,  dead  to  the 
world  beyond  a  narrow  radius. 

The  atmosphere  of  such  a  world  Gallen  has 
rendered  very  wonderfully  in  such  pictures  as 
the  *^  Making  of  Sampo,"  ^^Kullervo"  and  the 
*^  Mother  of  Lemminkainen. "  In  the  last-named 
picture,  the  mother  is  sitting  by  the  banks  of  the  dark 
river  of  death,  which  is  bordered  by  great  stones 
covered  with  blood,  and  on  which  is  seen  the  swan 
which  Lemminkainen  came  to  kill.  She  supports 
herself  with  her  right  hand,  while  the  left  rests  on 
her  son's  dead  body,  which  she  has  pieced  together 
from  a  thousand  fragments.  Her  face  is  turned  to- 
wards the  sky  with  an  almost  incredibly  intense  ex- 
pression in  its  every  line,  as  she  beseeches  the  Cre- 
ator to  restore  the  breath  of  life  to  the  corpse. 
Above  her  head  we  see  a  ray  of  light  and  the  bee 
which  flew  to  other  worlds  and  brought  the  ointment 
which  restored  her  son  to  life. 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC  179 

Of  recent  years  Gallen  has  rather  forsaken  the 
^^Kalevala''  and  chosen  his  subjects  elsewhere,  no 
doubt  with  advantage  to  his  art,  which  seems  to  have 
widened  and  become  more  human  and  complete. 
His  manysidedness  is  remarkable.  He  ranks  high 
both  as  a  painter  of  portraits  and  of  landscape.  In 
either  field  his  aim  is  to  represent  the  soul  of  what 
he  is  painting,  to  pierce  right  through  the  surface 
to  what  lies  behind  it,  to  use  the  outer  shell  and  sur- 
roundings of  an  object  to  express  its  inner  spirit. 
He  chooses  by  preference,  and  is  at  his  best  in  por- 
traying, subjects  that  are  strongly  suggestive  and 
mysterious,  that  cause  one  to  reflect  and  dream.  He 
is  rarely  commonplace,  but  when  he  finds  a  sympa- 
thetic subject  all  his  powers  are  evoked,  and  he  im- 
presses one  by  his  sheer  force  of  imagination  and  in- 
tensity of  expression. 

Gallen  has  also  painted  some  important  frescoes 
for  a  mausoleum  at  Bjorneborg.  The  following  is 
a  description  of  one  of  them,  representing  the  river 
Tuonela,  the  Finnish  equivalent  of  the  Greek  Cocy- 
tus: — 

**  On  the  bank  of  the  Tuonela  stands  a  group  of 
human  beings,  both  men  and  women,  old  and  young, 
waiting  to  be  taken  to  the  other  side.  Thus  the  pic- 
ture represents  in  other  words  the  different  rela- 
tions of  human  beings  to  death.  In  the  boat,  which 
is  gliding  forward  on  the  dark  river,  sits  huddled  up, 
with  her  head  in  her  hands,  a  young  naked  woman, 
while  a  middle-aged  man  with  a  determined  expres- 
sion on  his  face  is  just  getting  into  it.  On  the  bank 
we  see  another  naked  woman,  beside  herself  with  de- 


180  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

spair,  hiding  her  face,  while  a  young  girl,  sadly  and 
inquiringly,  but  at  the  same  time  submissively,  gets 
ready  for  the  last  journey.  An  old  bearded  man 
with  large  corns  on  his  feet  sits  still  with  his  hands 
crossed  over  his  knees,  awaiting  death.  Among  the 
other  figures  in  this  sad  and  solemn  picture  our  at- 
tention is  directed  first  to  a  man  on  the  right,  in 
whom  the  artist  has  portrayed  himself,  weapng  an 
apron  and  with  a  trowel  in  his  right  hand." ' 

Gallen,  however,  does  not  always  strike  the  dra- 
matic and  tragic  note ;  he  can  also  be  idyllic.  He  has 
a  wonderful  feeling  for  snow,  whether  feathery  on 
trees  or  lying  like  a  shield  on  the  iron  earth.  Some 
of  his  most  charming  work  consists  of  snow  scenes 
in  the  hush  of  winter.  He  also  loves  tranquil  sum- 
mer nights  and  days  by  the  water.  His  ^'  Bathing 
Girls"  is  a  masterpiece  of  this  kind,  daring  in  de- 
sign and  colour,  exquisite  in  feeling.  The  joy  of  life 
is  expressed  in  every  line  of  the  glowing  picture,  with 
its  blue  water,  which  becomes  brilliant  gold  where 
the  sun  strikes  it,  and  its  beautiful  figures  and  quaint 
attitudes  of  young  girls  tingling  with  unconstrained 
enjoyment  as  they  splash  one  another  or  roll  on  the 
sand  at  the  water's  edge.  Again,  in  the  triptych 
representing  the  story  of  Aino — an  earlier  work, 
while  French  influence  was  still  strong — a  more  hu- 
man and  lyrical  atmosphere  prevails.  In  one  of  the 
side  panels  we  see  Aino  dressed  as  a  peasant  girl 
and  wearing  birch-bark  slippers,  followed  by  the 
white-bearded  Wainamoinen  through  a  twilight  wood 
of  pines  and  birches,  between  the  stems  of  which 
gleams  the  sunset.    It  is  a  characteristic  piece  of 


v.  /''-**  ^^ 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC  181 

Finnish  landscape.  In  the  other  side  panel  Aino  is 
sitting  naked  on  a  rock  by  the  water,  watching  the 
water-maidens  disporting  themselves.  Aino,  it  may- 
be remembered,  was  drowned,  and  Wainamoinen 
sought  her  everywhere,  disconsolate.  The  centre- 
piece represents  the  story  of  how  he  caught  her  in 
the  form  of  a  salmon  and  drew  her  into  his  boat,  only 
to  lose  her  again.  We  see  the  old  man  leaning  for- 
ward in  his  boat  with  arms  outstretched  and  Aino, 
in  human  shape,  plunging  into  the  water.  The  land- 
scape is  of  a  blue  lake  with  pine-clad  shores,  and 
suggests  utter  loneliness.  The  boat,  which  is 
streaked  with  a  rough  decoration  of  red  and  fur- 
nished with  the  pointed  oars  common  in  the  north  of 
Finland,  rocks  from  the  shock  of  Aino's  leap  from  it. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  figure  in  Finnish 
painting  after  Edelf elt  and  Gallen  is  Eero  Jarnef elt. 

He  is  a  type  of  the  artist  par  excellence;  he  lives 
preferably  remote  from  the  bustle  of  modern  life 
and  careless  of  the  demands  of  the  public.  In  an  age 
that  admires  stress  and  violent  accentuation  he  is 
liable  to  be  overlooked.  There  is  about  his  work  no 
fuss  nor  self-advertisement,  and  he  does  not  paint  to 
advance  any  cause,  artistic  or  otherwise.  He  is  con- 
cerned to  put  on  the  canvas  his  own  quiet  but  intense 
vision.  He  has  painted  landscapes  which,  as  you 
gaze  on  them,  reveal  through  the  temperament  of  a 
lyrical  poet  the  very  soul  of  Finnish  nature ;  and  he 
can  combine  his  vision  of  nature  with  the  note  of 
human  endurance  and  suffering,  as  in  his  picture  of 
'^  Burning  the  Forest,"  which  is,  as  it  were,  a  re- 
strained cry  of  pain.    The  girl  with  the  blackened 


182  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

face,  who  stares  out  at  us  from  amidst  the  rolling 
smoke  and  the  flames,  is  an  image  of  tragic  child- 
hood which  grips  the  heart.  Jarnefelt  is  also  a  fine 
painter  of  portraits,  especially  if  he  is  interested  in 
his  subject.  The  noblest  of  his  portraits  is,  perhaps, 
that  of  Matilda  Wrede,  the  saintly  woman  who  has 
left  a  position  of  comfort  and  social  distinction  to 
give  up  her  life  to  the  service  of  the  men  and  women 
in  Finnish  prisons.  Few  artists  could  have  painted 
her  with  such  sympathy  and  understanding,  for  few 
modern  artists  have  the  passionate  and  intense  con- 
templation which  is  necessary  in  order  to  shadow 
forth  on  canvas  the  human  soul. 

There  are  many  other  artists  of  established  repu- 
tation whose  work  cannot  be  more  than  referred  to 
in  this  brief  sketch.  Westerholm  has  long  enjoyed 
fame  as  a  landscape  painter.  His  snow  scenes, 
painted  by  preference  when  there  is  rather  a  dead 
atmosphere,  reveal  a  loving  and  careful  study  of  the 
moods  of  his  native  scenery  that  recalls  Words- 
worth. Enckell  is  a  painter  of  great  refinement  of 
perception  and  considerable  originality  of  outlook, 
delightfully  free  from  slovenliness  of  execution. 
Thome,  Faven  and  Finch  are  all  artists  who  stimu- 
late by  the  genuine  originality  of  their  vision;  the 
latter,  though  an  Englishman,  has  rendered  the  hard 
and  brilliant  loveliness  of  Finnish  landscape  in  sum- 
mer as  successfully  as  any  of  the  Finnish  artists. 
These  painters,  whose  inspiration  is  derived  in  con- 
siderable measure  from  contemporary  French  art,  are 
developing  a  studied,  subtle  and  refined  technique,  a 
conscious  simplicity  of  treatment,  which  aims  at  dis- 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC  183 

pensing  with  all  unnecessary  detail.  It  is  probably 
to  them  and  the  group  of  which  they  are  members 
that  the  future  belongs,  and  their  annual  exhibition 
is  looked  forward  to  with  deserved  interest. 

Many  of  the  younger  artists  are  handicapped  by 
poverty,  which  prevents  them  from  studying  abroad, 
this  in  its  turn  perhaps  inducing  among  them  too 
great  a  contempt  for  the  traditions  of  painting.  The 
conditions  of  picture-selling  in  Finland  are  also  un- 
favourable to  them.  It  frequently  happens  that  the 
richest  men  have  not  yet  learned  the  art  of  buying 
pictures,  and  often,  when  they  have  acquired  it,  pre- 
fer to  purchase  foreign  works.  Consequently  the 
Finnish  artist  has  to  do  most  of  his  work  for  mu- 
seums and  lotteries,  and  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of 
the  present  day  is  a  public  possessing  insight  and 
discrimination  which  will  buy  Finnish  pictures. 

Even  more  than  in  painting,  the  soul  of  the  nation 
is  mirrored  in  its  music.  It  has  already  been  pointed 
out  that  the  **  Kalevala  "  is  but  the  co-ordination 
into  an  epic  poem  of  a  vast  number  of  songs,  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation.  The  old  runo 
singer  is  fast  dying  out,  but  the  love  of  song  re- 
mains, and  shows  itself  in  the  extraordinary  wealth 
of  folk-song  which  exists  among  the  Swedish-  as 
well  as  among  the  Finnish-speaking  population.  As 
in  other  countries,  it  was  gradually  being  forgotten, 
but  of  recent  years  much  has  been  snatched  from 
the  jaws  of  time  with  commendable  energy. 

The  Finnish  folk-songs  are  not  purely  Finnish  in 
origin.     Modern  research  shows  that  the  popular 


184  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

melodies  of  most  countries  have  wandered  about 
from  one  land  to  another,  and  those  of  Finland  are 
no  exception  to  the  rule.  In  them  we  do  but  find 
Finnish  characteristics  stamped  on  to  what  was 
originally  a  common  European  stock.  Nevertheless 
the  national  note  is  strong  in  them.  It  is  both  grave 
and  gay,  seeming  in  the  one  case  to  embody  the  surg- 
ing joy  of  the  summer  on  which  no  darkness  ever 
falls;  in  the  other,  the  long  snow-lit  twilight  of  the 
winter,  when  for  months  on  end  the  sun  scarcely 
peeps  above  the  level  of  the  frozen  earth.  Among 
the  Finnish-speaking  population  especially,  the  sad 
note  predominates,  sorrow  and  loneliness  being  the 
favourite  themes.  *'  In  this  country,  *'  said  Lonn- 
rot,  *  *  people  often  dwell  far  apart  from  one  another 
and  therefore  seek  friends  and  companions  in  the 
whole  of  Nature.  They  imagine  that  all  things  in 
Nature  have  life,  feeling  and  the  power  of  speech. 
If  any  one  goes  to  a  foreign  land,  the  sun  and  the 
wind  are  his  old  friends.  If  the  young  bride  leaves 
her  home  and  grieves  that  all  there  will  forget  her, 
she  knows  that  at  least  the  osiers  and  wattles  will 
recognize  her  when  she  returns.  .  .  .  But  the  glad 
and  happy  also  seek  Nature's  companionship.  Joy- 
ous girls  beg  the  cuckoo  to  sing  them  silver  and  gold. 
Mountains,  trees  and  animals  express  their  thoughts 
to  each  other  and  to  human  beings."  The  ancestral 
love  of  song  is  also  clearly  expressed  in  the  actual 
life  of  to-day,  and  one  cannot  help  realizing  that  it 
springs  out  of  the  inmost  heart. of  the  people.  In  the 
long  summer  evenings  people  sit  together  and  sing. 
On  anniversaries,  choirs  sing  before  the  statues  of 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC  185 

Finland's  great  men.  At  dinners  given  to  honoured 
guests,  singing  is  often  part  of  the  entertainment 
offered.  The  Finns  imprisoned  in  Eussia  for  de- 
fending the  constitution  have  often  been  sent  off  with 
singing  and  welcomed  with  singing  on  their  return. 
From  emigrant  ships  upon  the  Atlantic  floats  the 
sad  cadence  of  Finnish  song,  and  in  the  new  world 
the  Finns  meet  together  and  sing  their  country's  im- 
memorial songs  in  a  strange  land. 

Modern  music  is  a  very  recent  growth  in  Finland, 
and  its  development  has  been  extraordinarily  rapid. 
It  may  be  said  to  have  commenced  with  the  founda- 
tion of  the  very  interesting  Musical  Society  at  Abo 
in  1790.  The  ''  father  of  Finnish  music,"  Frederic 
Pacius  (1809-91),  was  German  by  origin  and  made 
German  influence,  notably  that  of  Mendelssohn  and 
Spohr,  strongly  felt.  Richard  Faltin  (born  in  1835), 
who  did  a  great  work  in  introducing  more  modern 
music  into  Finland,  was  also  born  in  Germany.  The 
first  distinctively  Finnish  composer  was  Karl  Col- 
Ian,  Pacius'  son-in-law  (1828-71).  He  was  followed 
by  Martin  Wegelius  and  Robert  Kajanus,  the  latter 
of  whom  founded  the  Philharmonic  Orchestra  at 
Helsingf ors,  and  is  in  his  composition  a  worthy  fore- 
runner of  Sibelius.  He  did  much  to  give  Finnish 
music  the  national  direction  it  has  since  taken.  Of 
other  present-day  composers,  beside  Sibelius,  the 
most  interesting  are  Selim  Palmgren,  Erkki  Melar- 
tin,  Oscar  Merikanto  and  Armas  Jarnef  elt,  all  young 
men. 

Finnish  composers  have,  as  might  be  expected, 
turned  mainly  to  folk-song  and  the  **  Kalevala  " 


186  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

for  their  themes.  The  latter,  with  its  vast  indefi- 
niteness,  is  full  of  suggestion  to  musicians,  and,  if 
Finland  develops  a  national  opera,  will  no  doubt 
furnish  its  heroes  and  heroines,  as  Homer  did  for 
Greek  tragedy.  In  this  way  Finnish  legend  may  be- 
come more  widely  known  to  the  rest  of  Europe. 

Among  Finnish  composers  Jean  Sibelius  is  by  far 
the  greatest.  While  transcending  the  limits  of  na- 
tionality and  forming  part  of  the  main  current  of  Eu- 
ropean music,  he  is  yet  distinctively  Finnish  in  his 
love  of  Nature  and  his  patriotism.  The  latter  is  dis- 
cernible in  his  choice  of  subjects,  both  for  orchestral 
music  and  for  songs,  but  it  is  best  described  as  an 
atmosphere  pervading  all  his  work.  Not  only  did  he 
often  turn  to  the  **  Kalevala  "  for  his  inspiration, 
but  also  to  that  other  great  source  of  national  feel- 
ing, the  poems  of  Euneberg.  He  is  a  great  lover  of 
Nature  and  there  seems  to  be  something  peculiarly 
Finnish  in  his  way  of  apprehending  her,  the  Finn- 
ish landscape  in  all  its  moods  being  often  brought 
most  vividly  into  the  mind  of  the  hearer.  There  is 
a  keenness  of  perception  that  reveals  the  composer 
as  gifted  with  highly  developed  physical  senses,  his 
works  sometimes  giving  one  the  effect  of  bracing 
days  spent  in  the  country.  He  also  rejoices  to  por- 
tray in  his  music  the  crashing  of  storms  through  the 
forest  and  over  the  water.  He  excels  in  depicting 
poignant  moments,  especially  in  his  songs,  which  are 
among  the  finest  of  modern  times. 

It  is  appropriate  that  a  nation  in  whose  music  the 
song  has  always  played  so  great  a  part  should  be 
unusually  rich  in  fine  voices.    Their  quality  is  clear 


PAINTING  AND  MUSIC  187 

and  metallic,  like  the  physical  atmosphere  of  the 
country.  Finnish  singing  is  rich  in  spontaneous  feel- 
ing and  has  a  fine  primitive  quality.  Probably  we 
shall  hear  much  of  Finnish  singers  in  the  future. 
Compared  with  the  best  German  singers,  they  are 
perhaps  deficient  in  the  highest  gifts  of  style,  polish 
and  culture,  and  lieder  singing  has  been  but  little 
developed  among  them.  It  is  rather  in  opera  and 
folk-song  that  they  shine,  where  finesse  is  less  requi- 
site and  their  simplicity  and  strength  tell.  When 
they  sing  the  songs  of  their  native  country  really 
well,  one  has  the  impression,  not  of  exquisite  art,  but 
of  the  simple  utterance  of  nature,  heartfelt  and  in- 
evitable, the  sublimation  of  peasant  song.  Choral 
singing  is  a  great  feature  of  Finnish  life  and  some- 
times reaches  a  very  high  level,  as  in  the  choir  Suo- 
men  Laulu. 

Thanks  to  Mme.  Aino  Ackte,  who  needs  no  intro- 
duction to  British  readers,  Finland  has  initiated  a 
musical  festival  which  may  come  to  have  a  national 
importance.  It  is  held  in  the  summer  at  Nyslott,  in 
the  heart  of  Finland.  Here  the  ruins  of  a  noble 
castle  rise  from  a  rocky  island  in  the  great  Saima 
chain  of  lakes,  and  thither  go  up  the  lovers  of  Finn- 
ish music  to  listen  to  Finnish  choirs,  a  Finnish 
opera,  and  native  compositions  of  all  kinds.  It  is  a 
wild  romantic  spot,  and  the  castle  with  its  grounds 
an  ideal  setting  for  Finnish  opera.  It  remains  to  be 
seen  whether  the  festival  will  have  any  effect  in  de- 
veloping musical  talent ;  it  certainly  gives  local  com- 
posers a  chance  of  bringing  their  works  before  a 
wider  public. 


CHAPTER   X 

EDUCATION" 

ELEMENTARY  schools  in  Finland  date  from 
the  eighteen-sixties.  In  early  times  the  priest, 
assisted  by  the  sacristan,  was  the  only  schoolmaster. 
It  devolved  on  him  to  teach  the  people  to  read,  and 
laggard  pupils  were  braced  to  their  task  by  the  law 
of  1686,  which  enacted  that  no  one  might  receive  the 
Holy  Communion  who  had  not  a  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures,  nor  be  married  who  had  not  both  re- 
ceived the  Communion  and  learned  to  repeat  Lu- 
ther's catechism.  Parents  were  expected  to  take 
their  share  in  the  work  of  instruction  at  home,  on 
pain  of  being  fined.  When  the  inadequacy  of  this 
system  became  too  glaring,  parish  schools  were  es- 
tablished, and  as,  in  so  thinly  populated  a  country  as 
Finland,  these  could  not  be  instituted  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  the  more  remote 
households,  that  interesting  phenomenon,  the  ambu- 
latory school,  came  into  existence.  Teachers  jour- 
neyed from  place  to  place  and  settled  down  to  in- 
struct for  a  few  weeks  at  each.  Such  schools  still 
exist  in  some  of  the  more  remote  parts  of  Finland. 
They  belong  to  and  are  kept  up  by  the  parish,  and 
wiU  disappear  if  State  elementary  education  is  made 
compulsory.    They  act  as  a  sort  of  preparation  for 

188 


EDUCATION 


189 


the  elementary  schools,  which  latter  presuppose  in 
their  pupils  at  entrance  a  certain  knowledge  of  read- 
ing and  the  Scriptures. 

It  was  during  the  period  of  progress  after  Alex- 
ander II's  accession  that  the  present  system  of  ele- 
mentary education  was  established  through  the  foun- 
dation of  the  FolJcskola  (People's  School).  In  1863 
the  first  training  college  for  elementary  teachers  was 
opened  at  Jyvaskyla,  with  Finnish  as  the  language  of 
instruction,  and  when,  after  a  four  years '  course,  the 
students  left  the  college  to  take  up  the  practical 
work  of  teaching,  the  elementary  school  was  fairly 
launched.^ 

^In  1908  there  were  2,663  such  schools  in  the  country-side 
alone,  of  which  89  per  cent  were  mixed  schools.  The  following 
table  shows  the  rapid  spread  of  elementary  schools  since  1877, 
together  with  the  tendency  of  the  mixed  school  to  replace  the 
separate  schools  for  boys  and  girls.  The  figures  relate  to  schools 
in  the  country  only.  These,  of  course,  constitute  the  great  ma- 
jority of  Finnish  schools.  Those  in  the  towns  will  be  referred 
to  later. 


Year 

Total  Number  of 
Schools 

Mixed  Schools 

Percentage  of 
Mixed  Schools 

1877-8 
1887-8 
1897-8 
1907-8 

357 

755 

1,510 

2,663 

172 

446 

1,206 

2,369 

48.2 
58.7 
79.9 
89.0 

If  we  divide  the  country  schools  according  to  the  language 
of  instruction,  the  result  for  1907-8  is  as  follows: — 

Finnish 2,279 

Swedish 374 

Eoth  Finnish  and  Swedish  ...         ...  10 

The  total  number  of  children  attending  the  country  elemen- 
tary schools  in  1907-8  was  112,362. 
There  are  two  terms,  from  September  1st  to  December  20th, 


190  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

The  subjects  taught  at  the  elementary  schools  in- 
clude reading,  writing,  arithmetic.  Scripture,  his- 
tory, geography,  the  elements  of  science,  singing, 
drawing  and  gymnastics.  The  most  original  feature 
of  the  instruction  is,  however,  the  time  devoted  to 
sloid,  or  manual  labour.  The  girls  are  taught  sew- 
ing, knitting,  darning,  patching  and  dressmaking, 
and  in  some  schools  cooking,  while  the  boys  pass 
from  working  in  paper  and  pasteboard  to  woodwork 
and  carpentering.  The  theoretical  knowledge  ac- 
quired through  arithmetic,  geometry,  drawing  and 
natural  science  is  thus  practically  applied.  The  chil- 
dren are  particularly  fond  of  this  part  of  their  work, 
and  the  idea  might  with  advantage  be  adopted  in 
other  countries. 

The  teachers  are  trained  in  special  training  col- 
leges, of  which  there  are  at  present  eight.^     Ten 

and  from  January  15th  to  June  1st,  the  school  year  beginning 
on  September  1st, 

The  hours  of  instruction  are  usually  8  to  10  and  12  to  3  or 
8  to  11  and  1  to  3.  At  the  end  of  every  hour  there  is  a  pause  of 
ten  minutes,  an  excellent  custom.  The  school  age  is  from  nine 
to  thirteen,  the  school  course  lasting  for  four  years.  The  aver- 
age number  of  children  in  a  school  was  in  1907-8  42,  the  average 
number  of  children  to  each  master  or  mistress  being  35. 

With  regard  to  elementary  education  in  the  towns,  it  should 
be  noted  that  the  school  age  is  from  seven  to  thirteen  instead 
of  from  nine  to  thirteen  as  in  the  country,  and  that  school  at- 
tendance is  practically  compulsory.  In  1907-8  the  town  elemen- 
tary schools  were  attended  by  34,628  children,  rather  more  than 
half  of  whom  were  girls. 

Of  the  1,150  teachers,  no  less  than  843  were  women. 

1  In  1877-8  the  teachers  numbered  363,  in  1907-8  there  were 
3,197,  of  whom  1,681  were  men  and  1,516  women.  There  were 
also  about  2,000  persons  giving  instruction  of  various  kinds  in 
addition  to  the  regular  teachers. 


EDUCATION  191 

years  ago  there  was  a  serious  difficulty  in  providing 
sufficient  teachers,  and  even  to-day  it  is  not  easy  to 
fill  vacant  posts.  The  salaries  of  teachers  are  as  fol- 
lows :  the  commune  provides  a  house,  garden  and  fir- 
ing, or  the  money  equivalent  of  these,  while  the 
State  pays  a  salary  of  900  marks  to  single  teachers, 
whether  men  or  women,  and  1,100  to  teachers  with 
families.  The  original  salary  is  increased  by  20  per 
cent  after  five,  ten,  fifteen  and  twenty  years '  service. 
The  teacher  has  further  the  prospect  of  a  pension, 
but  here  the  principle  of  equal  pay  for  equal  work 
ceases  to  be  applied,  and  men  are  better  pensioned 
than  women. 

In  spite  of  the  extraordinary  development  of  the 
People  ^s  Schools,  of  which  it  is  reckoned  there  is  now 
in  the  country  districts  one  per  957  inhabitants,  as 
against  one  per  1,619  in  1896,  the  popular  need  of 
education  has  not  yet  been  met.  At  the  present  time 
only  about  50  per  cent  of  the  children  of  the  school 
age  attend  the  elementary  schools  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts, and  it  is  calculated  that  even  if  each  of  these 
schools  had  as  many  pupils  as  it  could  receive,  some 
two  thousand  more  would  still  be  required  to  receive 
all  the  children.  Against  this  deficiency  in  schools 
we  have  to  place  the  fact  that  thanks  to  the  efforts 
already  alluded  to  of  parents  and  the  clergy,  practi- 
cally every  one  in  Finland  can  read  from  the  age  of 
seven  and  a  very  large  proportion  can  write.  This 
has  been  the  case  for  a  couple  of  centuries  and  is 
very  much  to  the  credit  of  the  country. 

These  remarks  do  not  apply  to  the  children  of 
school  age  belonging  to  the  Eussian  (Greek  Ortho- 


192  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

dox  Churcli,)  who  in  1906  numbered  9,106,  of  whom 
2,694  were  absolutely  without  any  education. 

A  strong  desire  exists  to  make  elementary  educa- 
tion compulsory,  so  that  the  advantage  of  the  FolJcs- 
kolamsij  be  shared  equally  by  the  entire  population. 
At  present,  the  number  of  children  of  school  age  at- 
tending elementary  schools  varies  from  76  per  cent 
in  the  southern  province  of  Nyland  to  only  30  per 
cent. in  the  northern  province  of  Ule^borg.  A  first 
step  in  the  direction  of  compulsion  was  taken  in  1898, 
when  it  was  decided  that  the  country  communes 
should  so  divide  themselves  into  districts  that  all  the 
children  could  attend  a  folkskola  without  walking 
more  than  5  km.  A  school  was  to  be  erected  in  each 
district  thus  formed,  provided  that  it  contained  at 
least  thirty  children  seeking  entrance.  In  1910  the 
Diet  voted  a  Bill  on  these  lines,  making  elementary 
education  compulsory  and  extending  the  course  from 
four  years  to  six.  But  Eussia  here,  as  in  other  cases, 
blocks  the  way  of  progress,  and  there  is  at  present 
no  chance  of  the  Tsar  giving  his  sanction  to  the  Bill. 

The  Finnish  child,  if  its  education  is  to  be  con- 
tinued, will  pass  from  the  People 's  School  to  a  State 
or  private  Secondary  School.  The  State  maintains 
Classical  Schools  {Lyceer)  and  Modern  Schools 
(Realskolor)  for  boys,  and  Modern  Schools  for  girls 
(Fruntimmerskolor).  In  the  Classical  Schools, 
Latin  and  Greek  are  taught ;  in  the  Real  Schools  and 
Girls'  Schools  these  are  replaced  by  modern  lan- 
guages. The  Boys'  Schools  have  eight  classes,  the 
highest  of  which  leads  on  to  the  University;  the 
Girls'  Schools  have  only  five  classes,  but  in  many 


EDUCATION  193 

places  continuation  classes  are  either  provided  or 
subsidized  by  the  State  for  those  girls  who  wish  to 
become  University  students.  The  ordinary  teach- 
er's qualification  is  the  degree  of  Magister  and  the 
attending  a  Normal  School,  which  is  an  ordinary 
boys'  school  at  which  would-be  teachers  attend  the 
lessons  and  have  themselves  to  give  trial  lessons,  be- 
sides passing  an  examination  in  pedagogy,  in  order 
to  acquire  the  teacher's  certificate.  The  hours  of 
instruction  are  the  same  as  at  the  elementary 
schools.  The  course,  however,  is  an  eight  years' 
one. 

No  corporal  punishment  is  permitted  in  the  sec- 
ondary schools,  and  it  will  probably  soon  be  abol- 
ished in  the  elementary  schools. 

The  private  schools  include  Mixed  Schools,  Girls' 
Schools  and  Real  Schools,  the  teaching  in  all  of 
which  corresponds  in  the  main  to  that  given  in  the 
State  Real  Schools.  All  the  private  schools  receive 
substantial  support  from  the  State. 

They  are  regarded  as  an  important  field  for  ex- 
periment, and  it  is  here  that  the  substitution  of  a 
modern  for  a  classical  education  first  took  place. 
The  most  important  experiment,  however,  was  of 
the  Mixed  School  {samslcola)  yWhioh  began  to  appear 
iu  the  'eighties.  Quite  apart  from  educational  the- 
ory, its  cheapness  commended  it  to  a  poor  country, 
it  being  obviously  much  cheaper  to  build  a  single 
school  for  both  sexes  than  to  establish  separate 
houses  with  different  teaching  staffs  for  girls  and 
boys. 

Very  different  opinions  exist  on  the  subject  of  the 


194  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Mixed  School,  but  the  balance  seems  on  the  whole 
to  be  in  favour  of  it.  None  of  the  more  serious 
moral  troubles  which  it  is  sometimes  supposed  to 
bring  in  its  train  have  appeared.  It  is  admitted, 
however,  that  in  many  schools  a  certain  amount  of 
jflirting  takes  place  between  the  girls  and  boys  in  the 
higher  classes,  and  complaints  have  been  heard  from 
girls  that  the  mixed  school  makes  the  boys  less  manly 
and  more  snobbish.  One  also  hears  of  boys  requir- 
ing a  great  deal  of  pocket-money  in  order  to  give 
their  best  girls  a  good  time.  On  the  other  side  one 
can  set  such  stories  as  the  following,  coming  from  a 
schoolmaster,  who  relates  that  the  boys  of  his  school 
requested  that  girls  from  other  schools  might  be  in- 
vited to  the  annual  dance,  as  they  did  not  look  upon 
their  own  as  real  girls.  Many  girls  again  have  de- 
nied the  existence  of  much  flirtation  at  their  schools. 
When  opinions  are  so  contradictory  one  can  only 
infer  that  the  conditions  are  widely  different  at  dif- 
ferent schools.  I  should  surmise  that  the  Mixed 
School  is  seen  at  its  best  in  the  country  districts, 
where  there  is  less  opportunity  of  spending  money 
and  going  to  cafes. 

Perhaps  the  most  serious  criticism  of  the  Mixed 
School  lies  in  the  still  unsolved  question  whether  it 
is  good  for  girls  to  be  educated  just  the  same  as  boys. 
(There  is,  indeed,  a  certain  difference  in  the  gymnas- 
tic training.)  It  seems  possible  that  there  is  a  very 
real  danger  of  the  girls  overexerting  themselves.  A 
sries  of  weighing  experiments  made  a  few  years  ago 
in  the  mixed  schools  in  Helsingf  ors  showed  that  the 
girls  decreased  in  weight  during  the  term  and  only 


EDUCATION  195 

increased  during  the  holidays,  while  the  boys  in- 
creased throughout  the  year,  though  most  during  the 
holidays.  Whether  the  result  is  the  same  in  the 
mixed  schools  in  the  country  I  am  unable  to  say. 
The  situation  might  perhaps  be  summed  up  by  say- 
ing that  while  it  has  been  shown  that  co-education  is 
free  from  the  terrors  with  which  early  prejudice 
clothed  the  idea,  it  has  not  yet  been  proved  that  its 
advantages  are  so  overwhelming  that  we  ought 
forthwith  to  adopt  it. 

Hitherto  the  State,  while  liberally  financing  the 
mixed  secondary  school  in  private  hands,  has  estab- 
lished very  few  such  schools  of  its  own. 

The  administration  of  the  schools  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  which  is  subordinate  to 
the  Ecclesiastical  Department  of  the  Senate.^  Dif- 
ferent sections  preside  over  the  elementary  and  sec- 
ondary schools  and  provide  inspectors  for  the  vari- 
ous districts.  The  authority  of  the  Senate,  however, 
stops  short  of  the  University,  which  is  at  once  the 
goal  of  the  schools  and  entirely  independent  of  the 
administration  presiding  over  them.  The  Univer- 
sity is  one  of  the  comparatively  few  old  institutions 
in  Finland.  It  was  founded  at  Abo  in  1640,  and 
after  the  great  fire  was  transferred  to  Helsingfors 
in  1827. 

At  the  end  of  their  eight-year  course  the  pupils  at 
the  secondary  schools  take  the  so-called  Student  Ex- 

^  As  this  title  may  be  misleading,  it  should  be  pointed  out  that 
the  Church  and  the  School  administration  for  the  last  forty 
years  have  been  separate.  The  Ecclesiastical  Department  cor- 
responds to  the  Culius  Ministerium  in  other  countries. 


196  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

amination,  the  papers  of  which  are  set  and  corrected 
by  University  professors.  Subject  only  to  success  in 
an  oral  examination  at  Helsingfors,  those  who  pass 
gain  the  coveted  privilege  of  studying  at  the  Uni- 
versity and  wearing  the  students'  cap. 

The  University  is  divided  into  six  faculties,  con- 
taining over  3,000  students,  more  than  700  of  whom 
are  women. 

Its  social  life  is  founded  on  the  Student  Corpora- 
tions, to  one  of  which  every  undergraduate  belongs. 
The  corporations  are  twelve  in  number  and  are  based 
on  locality.  They  are  not,  however,  residential,  like 
English  colleges.  Each  corporation  has  its  own  club 
premises  and  carries  on  its  separate  social  life. 
There  is  also  a  Students'  House  to  which  all  stu- 
dents have  access,  independently  of  the  corporation 
to  which  they  belong. 

Thanks  to  an  investigation  made  by  the  present 
Vice-Chancellor,  it  is  possible  to  determine  with 
considerable  accuracy  the  different  classes  of  society 
from  which  the  students  are  drawn.  Professor 
Hjelt  divides  the  students  according  to  their  fathers' 
rank  or  profession  into  upper,  middle  and  lower 
class,  and  taking  two  three-year  periods  gets  the 
following  results : — 

Upper,         Middle,         Lower, 
per  cent        per  cent       per  cent 

1894-6    Men  Students       51.8        30.7        16.6 

.1894-6    Women  Students 75 . 0        21 . 5  2.9 

1903-5    Men  Students       46.5        34.0        19.1 

1903-5    Women  Students  .. .         ...     49.3        33.4        15.9 

The  result  shows  very  clearly  to  what  an  extentthe 


EDUCATION  197 

advantages  of  higher  education  are  within  the  reach 
of  the  middle  and  lower  classes.  The  privilege,  how- 
ever, seems  often  to  be  dearly  purchased,  for  many 
of  the  students  are  forced,  through  lack  of  means,  to 
study  on  borrowed  money,  and  in  later  life  quite  a 
number  of  men  are  still  paying  off  the  capital  loaned 
to  them  in  their  student  years.  Many  of  the  stu- 
dents manage  on  very  small  sums,  but  there  is  plenty 
of  extravagance  among  the  richer  ones  and  much 
money  is  wasted  at  restaurants. 

The  first  woman  student  matriculated  in  1870,  the 
next  in  1873 ;  but  for  a  long  time  women  studied  in 
very  small  numbers  only,  and  it  was  not  until  1901 
that  they  were  placed  on  an  absolute  equality  with 
the  men.  They  have  shown  a  rather  marked  prefer- 
ence for  the  Historical-Philological  faculty.  The 
girls  of  the  Finnish-speaking  lower  class  have  been 
peculiarly  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege 
of  University  education,  as  the  following  table  of 
Professor  Hjelt  relating  to  women  students  in  1893- 
6  and  1903-5  shows:— 

Upper,        Middle,  Lower, 

per  cent       per  cent  per  cent 

Swedish  speaking 72.1        24.2  2.9 

Finnish   speaking 39.9         37.0        19.9 

The  percentage  of  students,  both  men  and  women, 
who  complete  their  University  course  by  taking  the 
final  examination  is  rather  small  and  is  decreasing, 
the  reason  being  that  most  girls  and  boys  are  keen  to 
take  the  Student  Examination  as  the  culmination  of 
their  school  career,  but  do  not  desire  a  University 


198  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

degree.  This  remark  is  specially  applicable  to  girl 
students. 

In  addition  to  the  primary  and  secondary  schools 
and  the  University,  there  exist  many  other  educa- 
tional institutions  of  great  importance  to  the  coun- 
try, by  means  of  which  knowledge  filters  through  to 
all  classes  of  society.  Among  the  most  interesting 
of  these  are  the  so-called  People's  High  Schools,  a 
kind  of  popular  university  built  upon  the  foundation 
laid  by  the  elementary  school.  The  idea  came  origi- 
nally from  Denmark  and  has  been  adapted  so  as  to 
meet  Finnish  conditions.  The  aim  of  these  schools  is 
both  ideal  and  practical.  They  try  to  awaken  among 
the  peasantry  an  interest  in  culture  and  in  the  prob- 
lems of  the  day  and  at  the  same  time  train  them  in 
the  best  methods  of  farming  and  housekeeping.  The 
first  of  these  schools  was  founded  at  BorgS,  in  1889, 
and  to-day  there  are  over  forty  of  them,  in  about 
two-thirds  of  which  the  instruction  is  given  in  Fin- 
nish. The  majority  of  the  students  are  between  the 
ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty-two  and  belong  to  the 
landowning  peasantry.  Each  school  has  between 
twenty  and  one  hundred  students.  In  the  year  1907- 
8  the  total  number  of  students  attending  the  schools 
was  1,447,  of  whom  578  were  men  and  869  women. 
The  course  lasts  from  November  1st  to  May  1st.  The 
success  of  these  People's  High  Schools  is  undoubt- 
ed, and  most  of  them  receive  an  annual  subvention 
from  the  State. 

It  is  not  only  from  these  schools,  however,  that 
culture  is  gradually  being  spread  through  the  Finn- 
ish country-side.     The  University  students  them- 


EDUCATION  199 

selves  have  through  their  corporations  organized  a 
kind  of  Extension  lecturing  with  a  similar  object. 
In  the  vacations  students  travel  about  the  country- 
side spreading  the  knowledge  they  have  themselves 
acquired  at  the  capital.  It  is  an  excellent  plan.  It 
keeps  the  students  in  touch  with  the  working  people, 
it  is  instructive  for  the  country  population,  whilst  it 
benefits  the  student  intellectually,  because,  by  forcing 
him  to  explain  his  knowledge  to  others,  it  compels 
him  first  to  think  it  out  and  make  it  clear  to  himself. 
One  would  like  to  see  a  similar  movement  in  other 
countries.  Moreover,  the  student  corporations  have 
also  raised  considerable  funds  for  sending  special 
lecturers  to  country  places,  for  the  founding  of  li- 
braries and  for  other  educational  aims. 

A  word  must  also  be  said  of  the  efforts  made  by 
the  country-folk  themselves  at  self -improvement,  in 
the  shape  of  the  Young  People's  Clubs  which  have 
developed  so  rapidly  of  late  years.  The  idea  started 
in  Osterbotten  in  1882  and  has  since  spread  to  every 
part  of  the  country,  the  different  branches  being 
kept  in  touch  by  means  of  a  federal  body  situated  in 
Helsingfors.  These  clubs  have  a  double  purpose. 
Firstly,  they  afford  young  people  a  regular  oppor- 
tunity of  meeting,  which  is  by  no  means  always  an 
easy  matter  in  the  Finnish  country-side,  and  of  in- 
dulging in  singing,  dancing  and  theatricals.  Sec- 
ondly, they  aim  at  interesting  them  in  art,  litera- 
ture, science  and  the  questions  of  the  day. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  other  educational  in- 
stitutions which  cannot  be  mentioned  here — such  as 
navigation  schools,  agricultural  colleges,  gardening 


200  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

schools,  commercial  schools,  schools  for  abnormal 
children,  etc.  Finally,  reference  must  be  made  to 
the  important  Technical  High  School  at  Helsingf  ors, 
which  has  some  sixty  lecturers  and  over  four  hun- 
dred students,  who  are  divided  into  five  faculties — 
architecture,  engineering,  machine  engineering, 
chemistry  and  land-surveying. 

Education  in  Finland  is  carried  out  under  certain 
disadvantages,  some  of  which  are  inevitable,  others 
of  which  might  be  remedied.  Among  the  former 
none  is  a  more  serious  handicap  than  the  large  num- 
ber of  languages  that  have  to  be  studied.  The  fol- 
lowing are  compulsory:  Finnish,  Swedish,  Russian 
and  German,  together  with  French  in  the  modern 
and  Latin  in  the  classical  schools.  It  is  difficult  to 
see  how  the  number  is  to  be  reduced,  for  Finnish  is 
practically  useless  outside  Finland  and  Russian  out- 
side Russia,  and,  although  Swedish  opens  up  the 
riches  of  the  Scandinavian  world,  yet  it  is  inevitably 
to  West  Europe  that  Finland  turns  in  order  to  keep 
in  touch  with  the  great  world.  English  is  still  a 
voluntary  subject  in  most  schools,  but  is  being 
studied  more  and  more.  In  fact,  it  has  become  very 
fashionable  to  learn  English. 

The  circumstances  which  condemn  the  Finnish 
school-child  to  learn  half  a  dozen  languages  may  be 
deplored,  but  can  hardly  be  altered.  The  system  of 
education  is,  however,  fairly  open  to  criticism  in 
certain  respects  where  changes  might  well  be  made. 
Thus,  too  high  a  value  seems  to  be  set  upon  the 
purely  intellectual  element  in  education,  which  is 
bad  both  in  itself  and  also  because  Finland  is  too 


EDUCATION  201 

poor  a  country  to  support  a  large  leisured  class.  The 
attitude  expresses  itself  most  clearly  in  the  tendency 
for  secondary  schools  to  prepare  their  pupils  too  ex- 
clusively for  a  University  career.  This  uniformity 
IS  sometimes  attributed  to  the  prevalence  of  the  Ger- 
man ideal  in  Finland.  How  far  the  accusation  is 
just  it  is  difficult  to  say.  It  is  certain  that  Finland 
has  largely  gone  to  school  in  Germany,  and  that  her 
debt  to  German  culture  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 
But  the  excessive  importance  attached  to  University 
education  and  intellectual  culture  is  probably  due,  at 
least  in  part,  to  the  desire  of  the  Finns  to  turn  out 
as  quickly  as  possible  a  Finnish-speaking  educated 
class  qualified  to  hold  the  more  important  positions 
in  the  State,  this  having  led  to  an  overproduction  of 
students  or,  at  least,  to  a  too  rapid  production  of 
them. 

However  this  may  be,  one  cannot  help  feeling  that 
a  greater  elasticity  in  educational  ideals  would  be 
good  for  Finland.  Boys  and  girls  in  the  secondary 
schools  work  for  years  in  order  to  pass  the  Student 
Examination,  and,  having  done  so,  never  take  a  de- 
gree. They  have,  indeed  obtained  what  they  desired, 
the  commercial  value  of  the  Student  Examination, 
such  as  it  is,  and  the  honour  it  brings.  But  the  en- 
ergy which  has  gone  to  winning  these  might  in  hun- 
dreds of  cases  have  been  much  better  applied  in 
other  directions.  Moreover,  the  country  itself  loses 
by  having  its  intellectuals  turned  out  too  much  of  one 
pattern.  That  a  reaction  against  this  excessive  in- 
tellectualism  will  take  place  it  is  fairly  safe  to  proph- 
esy, and  this  will  no  doubt  bring  with  it  a  change 


202  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

in  the  relation  of  the  University  and  the  secondary 
school.  Fears  are  already  being  expressed  that  the 
present  tendency,  if  unchecked,  might  lead  to  the 
production  of  an  intellectual  proletariat  despising 
manual  labour,  and  remedies  for  the  excessive  uni- 
formity of  the  system  are  being  eagerly  discussed, 
and — in  the  People's  High  Schools — put  into  prac- 
tice. 

A  foreigner  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  question 
whether  there  is  sufficient  personal  contact  between 
students  and  professors  at  the  University.  There  is 
no  college  system  with  its  nexus  of  common  resi- 
dence to  unite  them,  and  the  students  seem,  accord- 
ing to  our  English  notions,  to  be  left  too  much  to 
themselves.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  their 
choice  of  lectures.  They  do  not  map  out  a  course  of 
study  and  stick  to  it,  but  flit  from  one  subject  to  an- 
other like  bees  among  the  fair  flowers  of  learning, 
with  the  result  that  too  many  emerge  from  the  Uni- 
versity without  knowing  anything  really  well.  I  be- 
lieve that  students  are  in  the  habit  of  attending  far 
too  many  lectures,  and  several  have  told  me  that 
their  first  and  second  years  have  been  largely  wasted 
for  this  reason.  The  remedy  is  surely  a  greater  su- 
pervision of  the  students  by  the  professors,  who 
could  teach  them  how  to  study  systematically  and 
thus  go  directly  to  their  object  instead  of  making  a 
long  detour.  Moreover,  too  many  students  seem  to 
come  to  the  University  without  any  definite  idea  of 
what  subjects  they  want  to  study.  Here  the  advice 
of  the  teachers  in  the  higher  classes  of  the  schools 
ought  to  be  of  value. 


EDUCATION  203 

Increased  personal  contact  between  teacher  and 
taught  would  probably  counteract  another  exagger- 
ated tendency  in  the  Finnish  student — namely,  the 
propensity  to  run  after  every  new  thing.  It  is  so 
easy  to  start  a  new  interest  in  young  Finland,  so  dif- 
ficult to  keep  it  going.  A  thing  is  tried,  becomes 
fashionable  for  a  moment,  and  then  is  replaced  by 
something  else,  which  as  rapidly  gives  way  to  yet  an- 
other interest.  Altogether,  there  is  far  too  much 
intellectual  fluidity  among  the  younger  generation  of 
Finns,  and  not  enough  stability. 

Another  sphere  in  which  one  would  like  to  see  a 
change  is  that  of  sport.  That  sport  should  play  a 
very  much  smaller  part  in  Finnish  than  in  British 
education  is  neither  to  be  wondered  at  nor  regretted. 
What  one  does  regret,  however,  is  that  boys  and 
girls  who  in  their  early  years  became  adepts  at  sport 
should,  on  going  to  the  University,  almost  entirely 
abandon  it.  The  reason  assigned  for  it  is  lack  of 
time.  But  as  a  great  many  students  find  plenty  of 
time  to  spend  in  restaurants  and  in  amusements 
generally,  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  reason  does 
not  seem  a  convincing  one.  Moreover,  one  feels  that 
a  moderate  amount  of  time  devoted  to  outdoor  exer- 
cise would  have  an  excellent  effect  on  their  studies 
and  help  to  keep  their  minds  fresh  and  brisk.  It  al- 
ways strikes  one  rather  painfully  to  see  the  splendid 
skating-rinks  covered  with  children,  while  young 
men  and  women  are  hardly  represented  at  all.  If 
the  Finns  did  not  allow  the  restaurant,  with  its  sed- 
entary habits,  to  take  the  place  of  sport  until  a  few 
years  later  than  is  the  case  at  present,  they  would  be- 


204  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

come  a  splendid  nation  of  athletes,  and  this  without 
the  sacrifice  of  intellectual  pursuits.  It  is  pleasant 
to  be  able  to  add  that  in  the  opinion  of  competent  ob- 
servers the  restaurant  habit  has  been  diminishing 
during  the  last  twenty  years  and  the  interest  in 
sport  increasing. 

There  are  many  features  of  Finnish  education 
that  strike  one  as  being  admirable.  First  of  all,  the 
Finns  are  prepared  to  spend  money  on  their  schools. 
The  more  recent  school-buildings  are  models  of  their 
kind  and  would  excite  admiration  in  any  country. 
They  are  kept  extremely  spick  and  span  and  are 
splendidly  equipped  in  every  way.  The  teachers 
seem  to  do  their  work  efficiently  and  to  be  keen  on 
keeping  in  touch  with  educational  movements  all 
over  the  world.  They  are  enabled  to  do  so  with 
considerable  success,  as  sums  are  available  to  assist 
teachers  desirous  of  spending  their  holidays  abroad 
in  studying  foreign  school  systems.  The  Univer- 
sity also  has  in  its  gift  a  number  of  valuable  travel- 
ling scholarships,  thanks  to  which  much  of  the  best 
work  of  Finnish  scholars  has  been  rendered  pos- 
sible. The  importance  of  such  scholarships  in  a 
relatively  poor  country  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 

The  willingness  to  spend  money  on  education  is 
only  the  outward  sign  of  one  of  the  best  features 
of  Finnish  character — namely,  a  genuine  intellec- 
tual curiosity.  Eef  erence  has  already  been  made  to 
the  extravagant  forms  this  enthusiasm  sometimes 
takes,  but  it  is  at  least  the  defect  of  a  noble  qual- 
ity. This  little  nation  lying  in  what  even  to-day 
seems  a  remote  corner  of  Europe,  and  which  a  hun- 


EDUCATION  205 

dred  years  ago  seemed  almost  a  mythological  coun- 
try, has  for  over  two  centuries  had  one  of  the  best 
records  for  literacy  in  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  is 
to-day  informed  by  a  resolute  determination  to  be 
in  touch  with  **the  best  that  has  been  known  and 
thought  in  the  world."  Teachers  have  been  among 
the  most  honoured  men  and  women  in  the  country, 
and  there  is  nothing  of  that  condescending  attitude 
towards  the  profession  that  was  common  in  England 
not  many  decades  ago,  and  which  even  to-day  has 
not  entirely  disappeared. 

I  should  not  like  to  close  this  chapter  without 
some  reference  to  the  professors  and  students  with 
whom  I  have  had  the  honour  of  being  associated, 
and  from  whom  I  have  received  kindness  which  I 
shall  never  forget.  The  men  students  are  simple, 
manly  fellows,  remarkably  free  from  **side''  and 
very  easy  to  get  on  with.  The  girls  are  capable 
and  intelligent  and  by  no  means  blue-stockings.  Al- 
together, the  relationship  between  teachers  and  stu- 
dents seems  a  very  pleasant  one,  marked  by  good- 
will on  either  side.  Of  the  professors  it  is  enough 
to  say  that  their  work  is  valued  most  highly  by  those 
who  know  it  best.  The  quality  of  Finnish  research 
is  familiar  to  English  readers  through  the  books  of 
Professor  Edward  Westermarck,  Professor  Yrjo 
Him  and  others.  Finnish  professors  are  by  no 
means  exclusively  academic  in  type,  and  many  of 
them  take  an  important  share  in  the  public  life  of 
the  country. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  DIET  AND  PAETIES 

THE  machinery  of  Government  in  Finland  is 
rather  complicated.  There  are  three  main 
factors  to  be  reckoned  with — the  Emperor-Grand- 
Duke,  the  Senate  and  the  Diet,  and  the  inter-relation 
of  these  is  based  on  the  old  Swedish  constitution, 
as  defined  by  the  ^^Form  of  Government''  of  1772 
and  the  **Act  of  Union  and  Security''  of  1789.  This 
constitution  was  guaranteed  to  the  Finns  by  Alex- 
ander I  in  1809,  when  Finland  entered  the  Russian 
Empire. 

The  Emperor-Grand-Duke  governs  in  accordance 
with  the  fundamental  laws  and  the  other  laws  of  the 
country,  with  the  assistance  of  Finnish  authorities 
and  officials.  The  legislative  power  is  exercised  by 
the  Emperor  and  the  Diet  together,  but  certain  ad- 
ministrative ordinances  can  be  issued  by  the  former 
alone.  The  official  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween the  Emperor  and  the  Finnish  authorities  is 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  Finland. 

The  Governor-General  is  the  head  of  the  civil  ad- 
ministration of  the  country. 

The  Senate,  which  corresponds  in  certain  respects 
to  a  Cabinet,  consists  of  two  Departments,  that  of 

206 


THE  DIET  AND  PAETIES  207 

Justice  and  that  of  Economy.  The  former  is  pri- 
marily a  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal,  but  has  also  cer- 
tain functions  of  an  administrative  nature,  which  in 
other  countries  fall  under  the  domain  of  the  Min- 
istry of  Justice.  The  latter  is  the  administration 
proper  and  is  divided  into  eight  ** expeditions''  or 
ministries,  at  the  head  of  each  of  which  is  a  Sen- 
ator. Senators  are  appointed  for  a  term  of  three 
years  by  the  Emperor,  who  under  normal  conditions 
takes  into  consideration  the  prevailing  feeling  in 
the  country  in  his  choice.  A  strong  desire  exists  to 
separate  the  Department  of  Justice  from  the  rest 
of  the  Senate  and  transform  it  into  an  independent 
Supreme  Court.  The  fact  that  its  members  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Emperor  largely  for  political  reasons, 
and  for  a  brief  tenure  of  office  only,  seriously  weak- 
ens the  Department  to-day.  It  is  also  desired  to 
remove  from  the  Department  all  business  of  an  ad- 
ministrative nature.  In  the  Senate  sits  the  Pro- 
curator, its  legal  adviser,  whose  business  it  is  to 
see  that  public  officials  do  not  transgress  the  laws. 
The  Senate,  it  is  important  to  notice,  is  not  respon- 
sible to  the  Diet. 

Before  passing  to  the  Diet,  it  may  be  well  to  in- 
dicate briefly  the  nature  of  local  government  and  the 
considerable  functions  it  discharges. 

The  country  is  divided  into  38  urban  and  475 
rural  communes.  The  present  organization  of  the 
former  was  only  established  in  1873,  that  of  the  lat- 
ter in  1865  (now  Act  of  June  15,  1898).  Behind  it, 
however,  there  lies  a  long  experience  in  self- 
government,  based  on  the  old  Scandinavian  insti- 


208  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS  i 

tutions.  Towns  of  more  than  two  thousand  inhabM 
tants  elect  representatives,  and  smaller  towns  and 
rural  communes  are  also  entitled  to  do  so ;  but  it  fre- 
quently happens  in  the  country  communes  that  busi- 
ness is  still  settled  in  a  general  assembly  of  all  the 
voters,  which  elects  an  executive  to  carry  out  the  de- 
cisions it  has  arrived  at.  The  right  to  vote  depends 
on  taxation,  and,  while  in  the  Diet  elections  the  prin- 
ciple of  one  man  (or  woman)  one  vote  reigns,  in  the 
communes  a  man  may  have  any  number  of  votes  up 
to  twenty-five,  according  to  the  size  of  his  income. 
This  is  a  curious  instance  of  the  co-existence  of  the 
old  and  the  new  in  Finnish  life.  Married  women 
do  not  exercise  the  communal  vote,  because  their 
husbands  pay  their  taxes.  No  doubt  when  the  polit- 
ical situation  becomes  normal  again  the  communal 
laws  will  be  revised.  The  communes  have  the  right 
to  manage  practically  all  their  own  affairs,  includ- 
ing finance,  the  conununal  properties,  schools,  po- 
lice, poor  law  administration  and  the  public  health. 
There  are,  however,  a  few  matters  in  which  they 
have  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  provincial  govern- 
ors or  the  Senate,  such  as  the  raising  of  loans.  In 
the  urban  communes  is  a  town  court  consisting  of  a 
mayor  and  aldermen ;  it  is  a  court  of  justice  acting 
also  as  a  magistrate,  i.e.,  the  executive  body  of  the 
town  administration.  But  there  may  also  be  many 
elective  municipal  boards,  the  principal  one  being 
that  of  Finance  (Dratselkammare).  The  country 
communes  have  no  such  court.  In  1909  the  38  urban 
communes  had  a  population  of  451,030.  According 
to  the  budgets  for  1908,  their  combined  income 


THE  DIET  AND  PARTIES  209 

amounted  to  nearly  34  million  marks,  of  which  more 
than  a  quarter  was  derived  from  income  tax.  The 
municipal  debt  amounted  to  nearly  55  milUon  marks, 
while  the  assets  were  estimated  at  nearly  144  mil- 
lions. The  population  of  the  475  rural  communes  in 
1909  was  2,608,229,  their  income  for  1908  being  12 
millions,  of  which  nine  were  derived  from  income 
tax.    The  debt  amounted  to  nearly  17  millions. 

The  present  parliamentary  system  in  Finland 
only  dates  back  to  1906.  Up  to  that  time  the  old 
Swedish  representation  had  been  in  force.  The  Diet 
had  consisted  of  Four  Estates,  namely,  the  Nobil- 
ity, the  Clergy,  the  Burghers,  and  the  Peasants, 
which  sat  and  voted  separately.  The  electorate  num- 
bered some  hundred  thousand  persons,  a  mere  frac- 
tion of  the  population,  and  large  groups  of  citizens 
who  were  keenly  interested  in  politics  were  entirely 
excluded  from  participation  in  them.  Long  before 
1905  this  system  had  been  regarded  as  obsolete,  but 
circumstances  had  prevented  the  substitution  of  a 
more  modern  alternative. 

The  present  representation  came  as  one  of  the 
results  of  the  Great  Strike  of  1905,  by  which  the 
Finns  induced  the  Tsar  to  withdraw  the  illegal  or- 
dinances of  the  Bobrikotf  regime  and  restore  the 
constitution.  Two  proposals  for  a  new  system  of 
election  had  been  previously  discussed  in  Finland, 
each  of  them  being  based  on  the  idea  of  universal 
suffrage ;  one  of  them  favoured  a  two  chamber  sys- 
tem, the  other  a  single  chamber,  elected  by  propor- 
tional representation.  The  latter  opinion  prevailed. 
A  committee  drew  up  a  scheme  early  in  1906,  which 


210 


FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 


was  accepted  by  the  Four  Estates,  and  received  the 
Emperor's  sanction  on  July  20th. 

The  Diet  thus  consists  of  a  single  chamber.  It 
contains  two  hundred  members,  who  are  elected 
every  three  years  by  direct  and  proportional  repre- 
sentation. Every  man  or  woman  who  has  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-four,  provided  he  or  she  is  not 
disqualified  owing  to  certain  obvious  disabilities, 
such  as  are  recognized  in  every  country,  is  both  en- 
titled to  vote  and  eligible  for  a  seat  in  the  Diet.  The 
Diet  meets  yearly,  being  convoked  by  the  Emperor, 
and  its  session  lasts  for  ninety  days.  The  Emperor, 
however,  has  the  right  to  dissolve  it  before  the  ex- 
piration of  the  session.  In  this  case  new  elections 
have  to  be  held  and  the  Diet  meets  again.  The 
Emperor  has  also  the  right  to  summon  an  extraordi- 
nary Diet.  The  Finnish  and  Swedish  languages  are 
on  a  footing  of  equality,  and  the  Speaker  uses  both 
when  pronouncing  a  ruling  or  making  a  communica- 
tion. Naturally  much  more  Finnish  is  spoken  than 
Swedish,  and  Swedish  speeches  are  translated  into 
Finnish  by  a  special  interpreter. 

The  first  election  on  the  new  system  was  held  on 
March  15  and  16,  1907.  The  number  of  persons 
who  voted  was  899,347,  about  70  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  electorate.  The  parties  were  divided  as  fol- 
lows : — 


Socialists      ...         

Old  Finns 

Young   Finns           

Swedish  party         

80 

59 

26 

24 

Agrarians     ...         

Christian  Workmen 

9 

2 

THE  DIET  AND  PARTIES  211 

The  great  surprise  of  the  election  was  the  large 
number  of  Socialists  returned,  the  new  party  claim- 
ing no  less  than  two-fifths  of  all  the  seats.  As,  how- 
ever, some  account  of  the  Socialists  is  given  in  an- 
other chapter,  reference  will  only  be  made  here  to 
the  other  parties.  The  Swedish  party,  representing 
the  Swedish-speaking  population  of  Finland,  lost 
most  by  the  new  system  of  election.  Hitherto  they 
had  controlled  two  out  of  the  old  Four  Estates ;  now 
they  shrank  to  an  eighth  part  of  the  new  represen- 
tation. Nevertheless,  their  influence  is  out  of  pro- 
portion to  their  numbers,  because  for  generations 
they  have  been  the  governing  class  in  Finland  and 
have  developed  a  practical  political  capacity  which 
gives  them  a  considerable  advantage  over  their  less 
experienced  colleagues.  They  have  been  long  accus- 
tomed to  control  a  machine  which  the  more  recently 
enfranchised  classes  are  still  but  learning  to  manip- 
ulate. They  first  began  to  organize  themselves  as  a 
political  party  in  the  eighteen-eighties,  when  the 
triumph  of  the  National  movement  seemed  to  render 
the  formation  of  a  league  in  defence  of  the  Swedish 
language  imperative.  The  Nya  Pressen  was  founded 
as  their  Press  organ  about  that  time.  To-day  the 
party  is  represented  in  Helsingf ors  by  Hufvudstads- 
hladet  and  Dagens  Pressen.  In  internal  politics 
both  conservative  and  radical  shades  of  opinion 
emerge.  With  regard  to  Russia  they  have  always 
led  the  movement  for  ** passive  resistance,"  and  in- 
sist on  the  strictest  observance  of  the  constitution. 
They  do  not,  of  course,  stand  in  any  way  for  polit- 
ical separatism. 


212  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

The  Finnish  party  (usually  called  the  Old  Finns 
or  Fennomans,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Young 
Finnish  party)  began  organizing  in  the  eighteen- 
sixties.  Its  aim  was  the  realization  of  Snellman's 
ideal,  **one  nation,  one  language."  The  philosophic 
conceptions  on  which  the  party  is  based  are  derived 
from  Germany  and  are  rather  Bismarckian  (Snell- 
man,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  a  disciple  of  Hegel). 
The  party  achieved  a  great  work  in  winning  its 
rights  for  the  Finnish  language  and  paving  the  way 
for  the  intellectual  and  cultural  development  of  the 
Finnish-speaking  population.  Its  yielding  attitude 
towards  Eussian  aggression  has  lately  brought  it 
into  conflict  with  the  other  parties  and  weakened  its 
hold  on  the  country.  It  is  sometimes  accused  of 
yielding  in  order  to  receive  the  posts  from  which 
the  passive  resisters  are  expelled.  If  applied  to  the 
party  as  a  whole,  the  accusation  must  be  regarded 
as  unfair,  but  it  is  true  that  a  great  many  political 
adventurers  joined  the  party  during  the  Bobrikoff 
period  in  the  hope  of  personal  advancement  and 
have  done  much  to  discredit  it.  To-day  a  tendency 
exists  among  many  of  the  Old  Finns  to  abandon 
their  former  policy  towards  Russia  and  adopt  that 
of  the  constitutional  parties.  Altogether  the  party 
seems  to  be  in  a  transitional  state.  Like  the  Swedish 
party,  it  contains  both  conservative  and  radical  ele- 
ments. Its  principal  organ  is  Uusi  Suometar.  The 
party  is  strongest  among  the  peasant  proprietors, 
especially  in  west  and  south  Finland,  and  has  a  very 
large  number  of  adherents  among  the  Lutheran 
clergy. 


THE  DIET  AND  PARTIES  213 

The  Young  Finns  represent  a  revolt  against  the 
too  conservative  and  bureaucratic  leaders  of  the  Old 
Finnish  party.  They  definitely  seceded  and  organ- 
ized as  a  separate  party  in  the  early  'nineties. 
Among  their  original  aims  was  a  speedy  settlement 
of  the  language  question,  about  which  they  regarded 
the  old  leaders  being  too  lukewarm,  too  consider- 
erate  to  the  Swedes.  Their  party  program  was,  on 
the  whole,  a  radical  one,  the  political  philosophy  be- 
hind it  being  French  and  English,  rather  than  Ger- 
man. Large  numbers  of  artists,  scientists  and  lit- 
erary men  are  among  their  members.  As  soon  as 
the  pressure  from  Russia  became  serious,  the 
Young  Finns  abandoned  their  earlier  standpoint 
on  the  language  question  and  co-operated  with  the 
Swedish  party  in  the  interests  of  national  unity. 
During  the  Bobrikoff  period  they  joined  with  the 
Swedes  in  founding  the  constitutional  party  for  pas- 
sive resistance  against  Russian  aggression.  The 
party  served  as  a  refuge  for  many  of  the  Old  Finns 
at  this  time,  who  could  not  agree  with  the  yielding 
policy  towards  Russia.  If  the  Young  Finns  succeed 
in  holding  to  the  ideal  of  a  united  Finland,  with 
**one  spirit  and  two  languages,''  they  will  do  the 
country  an  immense  service.  It  is  worth  pointing 
out  that  Herr  Svinhufvud,  for  many  years  the  hon- 
oured Speaker  of  the  Diet,  who  is  generally  re- 
garded as  the  best  representative  of  a  united  Fin- 
land, is  a  Young  Finn. 

The  Agrarians  represent  the  small  landowners. 

The  party  situation  in  Finland  might  be  roughly 
summarized  as  follows :  With  regard  to  Russia,  the 


214  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Swedes,  Young  Finns  and  Agrarians  form  the  so- 
called  constitutional  party,  insisting  on  a  policy  of 
rigorous  passive  resistance  against  aggression.  The 
Socialists  usually  make  common  cause  with  them,  oc- 
casionally differing  on  points  of  detail.  The  Old 
Finns,  however,  adopt  a  somewhat  yielding  policy 
towards  Russia  and  are  thus  frequently  opposed  to 
the  other  parties.  Latterly  there  has  been  a  tend- 
ency among  them  to  come  into  line,  as  they  have  re- 
alized the  true  extent  of  Russia's  designs  on  Fin- 
land. With  regard  to  internal  politics,  the  situation 
is  more  complicated.  Broadly  speaking,  however, 
the  middle-class  parties  always  unite  against  the 
Socialists,  whom  they  can  thus  outvote.  Except  for 
their  common  dislike  of  the  latter,  the  Swedish 
party  and  the  Old  Finns  usually  disagree.  Between 
the  Old  and  the  Young  Finns  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  friction,  the  former  tending  to  regard  the  latter 
as  not  sufficiently  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Finnish 
nationalism.  Nevertheless,  they  have  strong  inter- 
ests in  common.  The  Young  Finns  are  on  rather 
friendly  terms  with  the  Swedish  party,  as  they  have 
temporarily  abandoned  the  language  struggle  and 
the  two  parties  agree  in  their  Russian  policy.  The 
whole  situation  is  complicated,  however,  by  the  fact 
that  in  each  of  the  middle-class  parties  there  is  a 
right  and  a  left  wing,  not  definitely  organized  as 
such,  yet  clearly  perceptible.  Generalizations  about 
the  Finnish  parties  are  therefore  beset  with  pitfalls. 
To  a  foreigner,  one  of  the  most  interesting  fea- 
tures of  the  Diet  is  the  light  it  throws  on  propor- 
tional representation.     Persons  interested  in  the 


THE  DIET  AND  PARTIES 


215 


particular  system  that  obtains  in  Finland  are  re- 
ferred to  Mr.  John  H.  Humphries 's  **  Proportional 
Representation ''  (Methuen),  which  includes  a  very- 
lucid  exposition  of  this  rather  complicated  subject. 
Here  it  is  sufficient  to  point  out  that  the  elector's 
task  is  an  easy  one,  as  is  seen  from  the  fact  that 
less  than  1  per  cent  of  the  voting-papers  are  spoiled. 
The  counting,  however,  takes  several  days.  In  the 
selection  of  candidates  great  freedom  is  permitted. 
The  country  is  divided  into  sixteen  electoral  dis- 
tricts returning  different  numbers  of  members,  ex- 
cept Lapland,  which  is  only  represented  by  one. 

The  proportion  between  the  seats  actually  gained 
and  the  votes  cast  is  shown  in  the  following  analysis 
of  the  election  of  1909.  The  result  is  typical  of  all 
the  elections  that  have  taken  place  since  1907,  any 
of  which  would  have  served  equally  well  as  an  illus- 
tration. The  justice  of  the  distribution  is  on  the 
whole  very  striking. 


Party 

Votes 

Seats  actually 
obtained 

Seats  in  Propor- 
tion to  Votes 

Socialist 

337,685 

84 

80 

Old  Finn 

199,920 

48 

47 

Young  Finn 

122,770 

28 

29 

Swedish     

104,191 

25 

25 

Agrarian    ... 

56,943 

14 

13 

Christian  Workmen 

23,259 

1 

6 

Briefly,  it  may  be  said  that  the  system  works  very 
smoothly  and  gives  a  fair  representation  to  all  the 
parties. 

The  work  of  the  Single  Chamber  Diet  has  been 


216  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

conditioned  largely  by  the  unfortunate  political  re- 
lations between  Finland  and  Russia.  It  falls 
roughly  under  three  categories — legislation  proper, 
representations  to  the  monarch,  called  forth  by  the 
abnormal  political  situation,  and  thirdly,  financial 
matters.  The  first  Single  Chamber  Diets  devoted 
most  of  their  attention  to  legislation.  They  have 
little  positive  result  to  show,  owing  to  the  hostility 
of  the  Russian  authorities,  which  has  prevented  the 
measures  passed  from  becoming  law.  In  fact,  for 
several  years  legislation  has  been  practically  at  a 
standstill.  Since  1910,  when  reaction  became  still 
stronger,  the  Diets  have  been  obliged  to  devote  most 
of  their  time  to  the  last  two  categories,  which,  ow- 
ing to  Russian  interference  with  Finnish  finance, 
are  closely  allied.  In  a  succession  of  excellently 
worded  petitions  and  addresses,  the  Diet  has  vindi- 
cated Finland's  right  to  her  constitution  in  the  face 
of  Russian  aggression,  and  has  demonstrated  the  il- 
legality and  the  harmful  effects  of  Russia's  present 
policy.  This  attitude  has  been  resented  in  Russia, 
with  the  result  that,  except  for  that  of  1911,  none 
of  the  Diets  since  1907  have  been  allowed  to  run 
their  natural  course  of  three  years,  but  elections 
have  taken  place  annually. 

There  seems  to  be  a  very  general  impression 
among  persons  who  have  sat  both  in  the  old  Four 
Estates  and  the  Single  Chamber  Diet  that,  as  re- 
gards its  composition,  the  older  body  was  superior. 
The  sudden  irruption  of  the  proletariat  into  the  Diet 
may  well  have  temporarily  lowered  the  average  of 
education  and  political  insight  among  its  members. 


THE  DIET  AND  PARTIES  217 

Even  the  critics  of  the  new  Diet,  however,  admit  that 
a  remarkable  improvement  in  its  work  has  taken 
place  during  its  later  sessions,  which  suggests  that 
the  Finnish  peasantry  are  quick  to  learn  their  new 
duties  and  will  justify  the  confidence  placed  in  them. 
There  seems  to  be  no  real  ground  for  pessimism,  es- 
pecially when  the  inevitable  dislocation  accompany- 
ing the  early  stages  of  so  sudden  and  far-reaching 
a  change  is  borne  in  mind.  On  many  sides  one  hears 
that  the  effect  of  the  extended  franchise  on  the 
electorate  has  been  to  widen  their  interests  in  a 
remarkable  manner. 

Of  recent  years  the  opening  of  the  Diet  has  been 
an  interesting  ceremony,  because  a  symbolic  one.  It 
takes  place  in  the  State  ball-room  of  the  Palace, 
which  in  happier  days  was  the  scene  of  friendly  hos- 
pitality extended  by  the  Emperors  to  their  faithful 
subjects.  To-day  no  Emperor  comes  to  the  deserted 
building,  which  lives  on  its  memories.  Only  when 
the  Diet  is  opened  does  it  regain  a  temporary  lease 
of  life.  From  one  of  the  doors  enters  the  Diet, 
headed  by  its  Speaker.  It  looks  curiously  out  of 
place  in  the  polished  and  shining  hall.  Among  its 
members  one  does,  indeed,  distinguish  many  intel- 
lectuals, but  it  seems  mainly  an  assembly  of  farm- 
ers, careworn,  silent  men  with  rugged,  strongly 
marked,  yet  extraordinarily  impassive  faces.  Here 
and  there  one  notices  a  woman.  They  take  up  their 
position  in  a  semicircle  opposite  an  imposing  throne 
placed  on  a  dais.  After  a  few  minutes  a  sharp  mil- 
itary shout  is  heard,  and  the  Eussian  Governor- 
General  enters,  followed  by  a  long  succession  of 


218  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

officers,  both  military  and  naval,  in  brilliant  uni- 
forms. Glittering  in  steel  and  gold,  they  take  up 
their  position  opposite  the  sombre-coloured  Diet. 
When  they  have  settled  themselves  a  dramatic  mo- 
ment occurs.  The  representatives  of  the  Autocrat 
Tsar  and  of  the  Finnish  democracy  take  a  step  for- 
wards towards  each  other  and  exchange  curt  formal 
bows,  suggestive  of  the  brief  handshake  of  boxers 
before  a  bout.  The  Russian  stands  brusque  in  man- 
ner, unsympathetic,  the  picture  of  the  military  mar- 
tinet. He  gives  the  impression  of  a  German  rather 
than  a  Eussian.  Indeed,  this  apostle  of  russianiza- 
tion  is  a  German  by  family  and  a  Lutheran  by  re- 
ligion. He  has  an  evil  reputation  in  Finland,  where 
he  was  Bobrikoff 's  right-hand  man.  The  Finn  con- 
fronting him  is  a  tall,  massive  man,  looking  as  un- 
shakeable  as  a  rock  of  Finnish  granite,  a  typical  rep- 
resentative of  his  country's  patient  strength.  The 
Russian  reads  out  something  in  a  harsh  voice;  the 
Finn  briefly  replies.  Again  curt  bows.  Nothing 
more  happens.  The  uniforms  troop  out  at  one  door, 
the  black  coats  and  homespuns  at  another.  The 
muzzled  Diet  has  had  its  session  opened;  in  the 
streets  outside  are  Cossacks. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Finland's  world-industry 

THE  characteristic  features  of  a  Finnish  land- 
scape are  forest,  water  and  rock,  and  it  is  pre- 
cisely from  these  and  especially  the  two  former  that 
the  wealth  of  the  country  springs  at  the  present  day 
and  is  destined  to  spring  far  more  rapidly  in  the 
future.  Possibilities  of  utilizing  the  enormous  sup- 
ply of  granite  are  indeed  not  to  be  compared  with 
the  certainties  of  wealth  that  lie  in  the  endless  for- 
ests and  the  innumerable  sources  of  water  power. 
Probably  in  no  country  in  the  world,  certainly  in  no 
European  country,  is  there  such  a  combination  of 
conditions  favourable  to  the  development  of  a  tifa- 
ber,  and  more  particularly  a  paper  industry. 

Roughly  speaking,  63  per  cent  of  Finland  is  cov- 
ered by  forest,  a  proportion  greater  than  that 
reached  in  any  other  European  country.  Even  if 
from  this  is  deducted  marsh  land  and  bog,  an  enor- 
mous surface  of  dry  forest  land  remains.  Both  the 
geological  formation  of  the  greater  part  of  the  coun- 
try and  also  the  climate  are  favourable  to  forestry 
— far  more  indeed  than  to  agriculture — and  the  nat- 
ural re-growth  of  the  trees  is  unusually  rapid.    The 

219 


220  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

difficult  wol'k  of  transport  is  facilitated  by  two  cir- 
cumstances. Firstly,  there  is  always  enough  snow 
in  the  winter  to  make  it  easy  to  bring  down  the 
logs  from  the  forests,  and  yet  the  snow  is  not  so 
deep  as  to  make  the  cutting  down  of  timber  difficult. 
Secondly,  the  country  is  intersected  by  an  enormous 
network  of  waterways.  The  great  Saima  basin,  ex- 
tending 360  miles  inland,  has  no  parallel  in  Europe, 
and,  as  a  glance  at  the  map  will  show,  there  are  many 
other  notable  chains  of  lakes.  Along  these  great 
natural  waterways  it  is  easy  to  float  logs  down  to 
the  sea-coast  at  a  low  cost.  Moreover,  nearly  all 
the  rivers  through  which  the  lakes  issue  have  a  large 
number  of  rapids  and  are  capable  of  producing  an 
enormous  degree  of  water  power,  whether  for  saw- 
or  paper-mills.  Nearly  2,000  rapids  have  been 
counted  in  Finland,  and  Imatra  alone,  which  takes 
the  overflow  of  the  Saima  basin,  is  calculated  to  be 
equal  to  not  less  than  140,000  horsepower.  Finally 
there  is  an  ever-increasing  world  market  for  both 
sawn  goods  and  all  sorts  of  paper,  but  especially 
for  the  latter,  which  is  by  far  the  most  profitable  of 
the  two,  and  which,  as  we  shall  see,  is  bound  more 
and  more  to  engage  the  activities  of  Finnish  capi- 
talists in  the  future. 

The  forests  are  largest  and  thickest  in  the  centre 
of  Finland,  between  the  great  lakes  and  the  plain 
bordering  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  and  in  the  east  along 
the  Russian  frontier,  and  in  the  north.  The  prin- 
cipal trees  are  the  common  pine  (Pinus  sylvestris), 
the  fir  {Abies  excels  a)  and  the  birch.  But  many 
other  trees  also  flourish,  notably  both  kinds  of  alder, 


FINLAND'S  WORLD-INDUSTRY        221 

the  aspen,  the  larch  and,  in  South  Finland,  the  oak, 
etc.  The  forests  contain  a  very  large  variety  of  ber- 
ries, which  are  of  considerable  importance  to  the 
peasants. 

It  is  comparatively  recently  that  the  value  of  the 
timber  as  an  article  of  export  was  realized.  To  the 
earliest  inhabitants  of  Finland  the  forest  was  a  place 
where  one  hunted.  At  a  later  period  trees  were 
used  for  building,  firewood,  etc.  As  cultivation  came 
into  use,  the  forests  were  regarded  as  manure — i.e. 
they  were  burnt  down  in  order  that  the  soil  might 
be  fertile  for  the  production  of  crops.  Even  to-day 
this  custom  persists  in  parts  of  East  Finland.  Acci- 
dental fires  also  perform  a  great  work  of  destruc- 
tion, as  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  in  each  of 
the  three  years  1868,  1883  and  1894,  when  proper 
precautions  were  already  being  taken,  considerably 
more  than  100,000  acres  of  forest  was  burnt  down 
in  the  State  forests  alone.  Gales  have  also  been 
terribly  disastrous  from  time  to  time.  The  keeping 
of  reindeer  has  involved  a  great  destruction  of  trees 
in  North  Finland,  and  the  ignorant  topping  of  trees 
to  provide  fodder  has  been  another  source  of  loss. 
Worst  of  all  has  been  the  wholesale  selling  of  for- 
ests to  timber  companies  and  speculators  by  the 
ignorant  peasants — fortunately  a  thing  of  the  past. 
The  forests  were  often  sold  for  a  mere  song,  and 
were  simply  ravaged  by  the  purchasers,  who  took 
all  they  could  and  rarely  thought  of  replantation. 
The  coast  district  of  Osterbotten  and  the  shores  of 
the  Saima  chain  of  lakes  have  suffered  terrible 
havoc  in  this  respect,  and  the  only  compensation 


222  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

has  been  that  agriculture  benefited  by  the  money 
derived  by  the  peasants  from  the  sale  of  their  trees. 
Only  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when 
saw-mills  became  common,  did  people  begin  to  think 
seriously  of  scientific  forestry.  The  first  Institute 
for  the  training  of  foresters  was  opened  in  1859. 
But  owing  to  a  lack  of  pupils  it  had  to  be  closed 
from  1866  to  1874.  Moreover,  many  mistakes  were 
made  in  practical  matters,  the  most  important  being 
that  the  foresters '  districts  were  made  so  large  that 
no  single  man  could  adequately  control  them.  A 
period  of  discouragement  and  stagnation  set  in,  but 
the  steady  increase  of  the  timber  export  led  to 
further  attempts  at  scientific  management,  which 
have  been  far  more  successful,  and  to-day  the  admin- 
istration of  the  forests  seems  much  more  satisfac- 
tory. The  farmers  know  the  value  of  their  trees 
and  exact  a  good  price  for  them,  and,  though  small 
proprietors  are  not  and  cannot  be  expected  to  be 
versed  on  forestry,  the  larger  companies  spend 
money  in  improving  their  forests  by  draining,  thin- 
ning out  the  trees  and  replanting.  Even  to-day, 
however,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  in  some  of 
the  privately  owned  forests  the  trees  are  still  cut 
down  with  a  recklessness,  a  disregard  for  the  fu- 
ture, that  calls  for  severe  condemnation.  Thus  the 
export  of  props  and  pit-props  has  lately  been  un- 
usually large  and  has  involved  in  places  a  deplorable 
destruction  of  young  trees  that  brings  with  it  no 
commensurate  gain.  It  is  also  worth  pointing  out, 
in  view  of  the  great  growth  of  the  timber  export, 
that  the  dimensions  of  the  trees  that  come  to  the 


FINLAND'S  WORLD-INDUSTRY        223 

saw-mills  are  gradually  diminishing.  In  1889  an 
average  of  33.9  trees  went  to  a  standard  of  sawn 
goods;  in  1896  it  reached  40,  and  although  since 
then  it  has  fallen  in  some  years,  in  1911  it  was 
as  high  as  46.  This  does  not,  however,  necessarily 
mean  that  the  forests  are  badly  looked  after,  be- 
cause as  the  tree  grows  fastest  till  it  reaches  a  diam- 
eter of,  say,  7  or  8  inches,  and  then  increases  in 
thickness  very  much  more  slowly,  the  best  results 
economically  are  obtained  by  cutting  the  trees  be- 
fore the  period  of  slow  growth  sets  in. 

The  forest  land  of  Finland  is  divided  into  Crown 
and  private  forests.  The  former  have  existed  for 
many  centuries,  since  the  State  in  early  times 
claimed  for  itself  a  right  to  all  waste  lands.  In  1908 
the  Crown  forests  covered  nearly  13  million  hec- 
tares, about  a  third  of  the  total  area  of  Finland, 
over  11  million  hectares  being  situated  in  the  vast 
province  of  Uleiborg.  But  only  about  5%  million 
hectares  are  real  forest  land  where  the  trees  grow 
thickly,  most  of  the  remaining  7%  millions  being 
marshy  land,  where  vegetation  is  comparatively  thin. 

The  private  forests  amount  to  nearly  10  million 
hectares  of  good  forest  land  and  nearly  2  million 
hectares  of  marsh  land. 

The  process  by  which  the  logs  are  got  down  from 
the  forests  to  the  mills  is  one  of  great  interest.  As 
soon  as  the  snow  falls  in  the  autumn  the  felling  of 
the  trees  begins.  The  life  of  the  woodcutters  is  any- 
thing but  an  easy  one.  They  leave  their  homes  for 
weeks  at  a  time  and  settle  in  the  forest  so  as  to  be 
near  their  work.    If  possible  they  live  with  some 


224  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

of  the  peasants,  but  it  often  happens,  especially  in 
the  thinly  populated  north,  that  they  have  to  rig 
up  shelters  for  themselves.  One  even  hears  of  men 
sleeping  out  round  a  fire,  turning  first  one  side 
towards  the  heat  and  then  the  other.  They  cut  down 
the  trees,  rough-hew  them  with  axes,  peel  off  the 
bark,  pile  them  on  sledges  and  take  them  to  the  near- 
est waterway,  where  they  are  stacked  either  on  the 
banks  or  on  the  frozen  water.  When  the  spring 
comes  they  are  floated  to  the  sea.  Down  the  rivers 
it  is  for  the  most  part  easy  work,  for  the  stream 
carries  them  slowly  along,  and  the  only  difficulty  is 
that  they  sometimes  get  stuck  in  narrow  or  rocky 
places,  where  the  current  is  powerful  or  there  are 
rapids.  Men  are  usually  stationed  at  such  spots  to 
disentangle  the  logs  with  long  forks.  It  is  a  diffi- 
cult and  dangerous  work  and  often  leads  to  loss  of 
life.  If  a  very  serious  stoppage  occurs,  recourse 
must  sometimes  be  had  to  explosives.  When  the 
logs  emerge  from  the  rivers  into  the  great  lakes, 
artificial  traction  is  of  course  necessary.  The  logs 
are  collected  in  large  numbers,  and,  by  means  of  a 
girdle  of  trees  chained  to  each  other,  are  formed 
into  huge  rafts.  Sometimes  the  girdle  breaks,  and 
then  a  most  terrible  confusion  arises,  which  it  takes 
days  to  set  straight.  The  passage  of  these  rafts  is 
necessarily  a  very  slow  one,  and  the  men  who  are 
in  charge  of  them  build  a  hut  on  board  and  settle 
down  comfortably  for  the  summer.  There  is  quite 
a  little  harvest  of  songs  expressive  of  the  life  of 
the  raftsmen.  They  are  not  very  popular  char- 
acters in  the  country-side,  however,  having  the  rep- 


FINLAND'S  WORLD-INDUSTRY        225 

utation  of  being  extremely  rough  and  quarrelsome. 
The  old  method  by  which  they  got  their  raft  to  move 
was  very  primitive.  They  rowed  out  as  far  as  pos- 
sible with  an  anchor  attached  to  a  line,  dropped  an- 
chor, returned  to  the  raft  and  wound  up  the  line 
on  a  capstan  until  the  raft  was  pulled  along  as  far 
as  the  anchor,  upon  which  the  process  was  repeated 
over  and  over  again  indefinitely.  Nowadays  tugs 
do  the  work  more  and  more.  When  the  lakes  issue 
in  rivers  the  raft  is  of  course  dissolved  and  the  logs 
are  once  more  borne  along  by  the  current.  In  places 
where  the  stream  is  used  to  supply  power,  canals 
are  constructed  for  the  passage  of  the  logs.  Even 
with  the  use  of  tugs  on  the  lakes  it  often  takes  one 
or  two  summers  for  the  logs  to  make  the  entire  voy- 
age from  the  place  where  they  are  originally  floated 
to  the  saw-mills. 

In  1910  the  saw-mills  numbered  531,  not  count- 
ing a  considerable  number  which  worked  only  to 
supply  the  needs  of  the  owner  or  the  commune. 
Most  of  them  are  small,  the  number  of  saws  which 
turn  out  more  than  10,000  cubic  metres  a  year  not 
much  exceeding  100,  but  these  latter  include  some 
very  large  mills.  Most  of  the  larger  mills  lie  at  or 
near  the  mouths  of  the  principal  rivers,  the  Kym- 
mene,  the  Kumo,  the  Vuoksi,  and,  in  the  far  north, 
the  Kemi  and  the  Tome.  For  this  reason  Kotka, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Kymmene,  and  Bjorneborg,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Kumo,  have  become  important 
places  for  the  timber  export.  In  East  Finland,  Vi- 
borg  holds  a  similar  position,  chiefly  because  it  lies 
close  to  the  mouth  of  the  Saima  canal.    Among  the 


226  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

persons  and  firms  which  own  the  large  saw-mills 
may  be  mentioned  Ahlstrom  &  Co.,  Hackmann  &  Co., 
Rosenlew  &  Co.,  August  Eklof,  Gutzeit  &  Co.,  Sal- 
vesen  &  Co.,  the  Halla  Company,  the  Finland  Wood 
Company,  Ltd.  The  latter  is  a  British  firm,  and  the 
three  preceding  it  belong  to  Norwegians. 

It  is  noteworthy  that,  in  spite  of  Finland's  wealth 
in  water  power,  almost  as  many  mills  are  driven  by 
steam  as  by  water.  This  is  especially  the  case  with 
the  larger  mills,  practically  all  those  which  turn  out 
more  than  20,000  cubic  metres  per  annum  using 
steam.  The  reason  is  that  their  position  has  been 
determined  by  other  considerations  than  the  accessi- 
bility of  water  power,  and  that  such  power  is  not 
essential  in  saw-mills  because  sufficient  fuel  is  ob- 
tainable from  the  waste  products  of  the  mill. 

The  growth  of  the  industry  has  been  most  rapid, 
the  average  value  having  risen  from  37  millions  of 
marks  in  1886-90  to  143  millions  in  1906-10.  Of  the 
timber  exported  in  1911,  2,235,000  cubic  metres  was 
unsawn,  277,000  cubic  metres  partially  sawn  and 
3,120,000  cubic  metres  sawn  and  partially  worked  up. 
Of  the  unsawn  timber  the  greater  quantity  consisted 
of  props  or  pit-props,  while  of  that  worked  up, 
1,478,000  cubic  metres  consisted  of  boards,  857,000 
cubic  metres  of  battens  and  403,000  cubic  metres  of 
planks. 

The  raw-material  of  the  saw-mills  is  derived  from 
the  fir  and  pine  forests.  There  is,  however,  an  im- 
portant industry  which  utilizes  the  birch,  namely  the 
bobbin  industry.  The  conditions  for  carrying  it  on 
profitably  do  not  exist  in  many  countries.    A  very 


FINLAND  ^S  WOELD-INDUSTRY        227 

large  amount  of  wood  is  required,  as  there  is  a 
wastage  of  over  90  per  cent.  Consequently  it  is 
only  profitable  to  make  bobbins  in  a  large  town  or 
near  mills  worked  by  steam,  w^here  the  waste  can 
be  consumed  as  fuel.  Moreover,  there  are  transport 
difficulties  that  do  not  exist  in  the  case  of  the  saw- 
mills. For  birch  logs  cannot  be  floated  down  like  fir 
and  pine  logs,  but  must  be  piled  on  barges  and 
brought  down  by  tugs.  Consequently  such  facilities 
as  Finland  offers  for  water  transport  are  of  the 
utmost  value,  and  the  bobbin  industry  flourishes  ac- 
cordingly. There  are  now  thirteen  factories,  in- 
cluding six  large  ones,  two  of  which  belong  to  the 
Tornator  Company,  two  to  the  Kaukas  Company, 
while  two  more  at  Kuopio  were  bought  in  1912  by 
Messrs.  Coats,  of  Paisley. 

Great  as  are  Finland's  natural  advantages  as  re- 
gards saw-mills,  they  are  still  greater  as  regards 
paper-mills.  The  water  power,  which  is  often  dis- 
pensed with  in  the  former,  is  of  the  very  highest 
importance  for  the  latter.  While  paper-mill  own- 
ers have  the  greater  need  for  water  power,  they  also, 
by  reason  of  the  different  conditions  of  transport, 
have  a  greater  liberty  to  place  their  mills  where 
they  can  get  it.  In  1910  the  mills  were  using  77,200 
effective  horse-power,  and  since  then  the  amount  has 
been  increased.  Three-quarters  of  it  was  used  in  the 
pulp  factories,  most  of  the  rest  in  the  paper  fac- 
tories, about  3,000  horse-power  going  to  the  cellu- 
lose factories.  Electrical  power  is  also  used  and  its 
employment  will  certainly  increase.  In  1910  there 
were  110  electric  generators  in  use. 


?-8  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Most  of  the  Finnish  paper-mills  are  named  after 
the  rapids  by  which  they  are  situated  and  from 
which  they  derive  their  power,  and  end  in  -koski, 
the  Finnish  for  waterfall.  The  largest  firm  is  the 
Kymmene  Company,  with  a  capital  of  14%  millions 
of  marks.  It  consists  of  three  factories  lying  close 
to  each  other  on  the  Kymmene  Eiver.  The  Tor- 
nator  Company  is  the  second  largest.  Among  other 
important  firms  are  Valkiakoski  in  South  Tavast- 
land  and  Leppakoski  in  East  Finland. 

The  growth  of  the  paper  industry  has  been  ex- 
tremely rapid,  as  the  following  figures  as  to  the 
value  of  the  output  show : — 


1885  ... 
1895  ... 
1905  ... 
1912  ... 


As  the  paper 


9  millions  of  marks 
16 

41        "  " 

93        "  " 


industry  exists  principally  for  pur- 
poses of  export,  it  is  interesting  to  note  certain 
changes  in  respect  of  the  countries  which  take  the 
production.  Cellulose  up  to  1904  went  almost  ex- 
clusively to  Eussia,  but  in  1911  Russia  took  only 
about  one-fourteenth  of  the  total  export.  Ground 
wood  pulp  also  used  to  go  almost  entirely  to  Eussia, 
but  in  1911  Eussia  took  little  more  than  a  quarter 
of  the  export.  All  along,  Eussia  has  taken  most  of 
the  paper  export,  but  the  amount  sent  to  other  coun- 
tries has  increased  from  3.2  per  cent  in  1909  to  21.8 
per  cent  in  1911.  After  Eussia,  Great  Britain  is 
the  best  market  for  Finnish  paper  goods,  and  in 
1911  imported  87,500  tons  of  ground  wood  pulp,  eel- 


FINLAND'S  WORLD-INDUSTRY        229 

lulose,  paste-board  and  paper.  Nearly  20,000  tons 
consisted  of  paper,  three-quarters  of  it  being  brown 
paper. 

The  extraordinary  development  of  the  paper  in- 
dustry is  having  an  important  effect  on  the  saw- 
mill owners.  Saw-mills  pay  less  and  less,  especially 
in  cases  where  the  owners  have  no  land  of  their 
own  from  which  to  draw  their  supply  of  timber. 
For,  owing  to  the  successful  development  of  paper 
manufacturing,  the  value  of  forest  land  is  rising 
rapidly.  Both  paper-  and  saw-mill  owners  find  it 
impossible  to  get  their  raw  material  on  the  old  easy 
terms,  when  farmers  would  give  them  ten-year  con- 
tracts for  felling  the  timber  on  their  land.  The 
farmers  realize  the  state  of  the  market  and  will  only 
contract  for  two  or  three  years  at  a  time.  Conse- 
quently the  mill-owners  are  tumbling  over  each  other 
in  their  eagerness  to  buy  up  forests  while  the  price 
is  still  low  compared  to  what  it  will  undoubtedly  be 
one  or  two  decades  hence.  But  even  now  the  price 
is  usually  too  high  to  make  saw-mills  a  profitable 
undertaking  except  for  those  who  already  own  their 
land,  and  there  is  little  room  for  doubt  that  a  silent 
revolution  will  take  place,  and  that,  wherever  pos- 
sible, saw-mill  owners  will  turn  their  energies  to 
paper  making.  There  is  far  more  money  to  be  made 
in  this  way.  A  standard  of  sawn  goods  brings  in 
some  £7  or  £8,  while  the  same  quantity  of  wood 
turned  into  rough  paper  brings  in  from  £30  to  £50. 
Moreover,  recent  experience  shows  that  the  export 
of  the  more  expensive  products  of  the  industry  is 
increasing  at  a  far  greater  rate  than  that  of  the 


230  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

coarser  products — another  strong  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  the  future  belongs  to  the  paper-mill.  It 
is,  however,  impossible  for  paper-mills  to  replace 
saw-mills  all  over  the  country,  for  the  simple  rea- 
son that  it  is  only  the  fir  that  can  be  used  in  mak- 
ing paper,  pine-wood  being  unsuited  to  the  purpose. 
But  it  has  been  estimated  that  if  all  the  white  wood 
now  exported  as  raw  material  for  paper  making  in 
other  countries  and  as  planks,  battens  and  boards 
were  converted  into  paper,  the  paper  export  could 
be  increased  fourfold  or  fivefold  without  cutting 
down  any  more  trees  than  is  done  at  present. 

In  spite  of  the  very  advantageous  conditions  in 
Finland,  many  paper-mills  are  not  doing  well.  The 
reason  is  that  they  started  on  wrong  lines  and  find 
it  difficult  to  recover.  The  chemical  process  by 
which  paper  is  made  out  of  wood  was  only  invented 
some  thirty  years  ago,  and  the  early  paper-mills 
were  largely  experimental.  They  had  to  feel  their 
way  and  made  many  mistakes.  The  mills  had  to  be 
rebuilt,  the  installations  were  wrong,  too  many  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  goods  were  made  in  the  same  mill, 
and  so  on.  Now,  however,  those  who  start  paper- 
mills  have  the  benefit  of  past  experience  to  guide 
them.  They  know  what  to  do,  and  their  only  need 
is  the  capital  with  which  to  do  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


OTHER  INDUSTEIES 


A 


^^  FINNISH  WEEK'^  which  was  held  in  the 
autumn  of  1913  showed  that  a  very  large  num- 
ber of  goods  of  different  kinds  are  produced  in  Fin- 
land. But  while  Finnish  timber  and  paper  are  mak- 
ing their  way  to  all  parts  of  the  globe,  most  of  the 
other  industries  work  mainly  for  the  home  market, 
and  do  not  seem  capable  at  present  of  very  much 
development. 

An  exception  to  this  remark  is  the  stone  indus- 
try. This  is,  like  timber  and  paper,  a  natural  indus- 
try for  Finland,  which  is  particularly  rich  in  stone. 
The  soil  rests  on  a  foundation  of  granite,  and  this 
has  to  a  large  extent  come  to  the  surface  and  con- 
stitutes a  considerable  portion  of  the  area  of  Fin- 
land. It  is  the  most  important  of  the  varieties  of 
stone  found  in  the  country.  There  is  an  annual  ex- 
port worth  from  100,000  to  200,000  marks  to  Aber- 
deen, but  by  far  the  greatest  export  is  to  Russia. 
This  is  only  natural,  as  Russia  is  so  near  to  Fin- 
land and  is  herself  poor  in  stone.  The  ^^rapakivi" 
granite  from  the  east  of  Finland  has  been  much 

231 


232  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

used  in  St.  Isaac's  and  the  Kazan  Cathedral  at 
Petersburg,  while  the  red  granite  from  south-west 
Finland  is  used  for  the  monuments  of  Alexander  II 
at  Moscow  and  of  Alexander  III  at  Moscow  and 
Petersburg.  The  export  to  Russia  ought  to  increase 
considerably  with  the  growth  of  Russian  towns.  The 
chief  thing  that  hampers  the  development  of  the 
industry  is  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  transport. 

While  Finland's  wealth  in  timber  and  granite  and 
water  power  has  long  been  realized,  it  is  still  an 
open  question  whether  or  not  she  contains  mineral 
wealth.  From  the  oldest  times  iron  has  been  worked 
in  Finland,  and  one  of  the  leading  personages  in  the 
**Kalevala"  is  Ilmarinen,  the  smith.  Yet  the  coun- 
try seems  poor  in  iron,  and  the  iron  worked  was 
obtained  not  from  mines,  but  from  the  beds  of  lakes 
and  bogs.  Several  attempts  to  discover  iron  mines 
really  worth  working  have  been  made  from  the  sev- 
enteenth century  up  to  to-day,  but  without  suc- 
cess. Under  the  circumstances  the  manufacture  of 
iron  goods  is  not  likely  to  take  place  on  a  great  scale, 
more  especially  since  considerable  orders  that  used 
to  come  from  the  Russian  State  have,  since  1906, 
been  cancelled,  owing  to  political  reasons.  Never- 
theless, iron  is  an  important  industry  in  Finland, 
employing  over  10,000  persons,  and  the  modern  me- 
chanical workshops  are  excellently  managed. 

In  the  eighteen-seventies  gold  was  discovered  in 
the  north  of  Finland,  in  the  bed  of  the  Ivalojoki, 
which  flows  into  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Gold-washing 
has  since  then  regularly  taken  place,  but  the  results 
have  been  inconsiderable.    Altogether,  people  had 


OTHER  INDUSTRIES  233 

better  receive  with  caution  reports  of  wealthy  gold 
mines  in  Finland. 

The  prospects  with  regard  to  copper  seem  more 
hopeful.  It  is  possible  that  an  old  mine  at  Orijarvi, 
which  has  lately  been  reopened  with  modern  plant, 
may  yield  good  returns,  though  the  present  manage- 
ment of  it  has  not  succeeded  in  winning  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Finns.  Moreover,  at  Outokumpu,  in 
the  province  of  Kuopio,  some  rich  veins  of  copper 
have  been  discovered. 

Another  industry  that  deserves  special  notice  is 
the  manufacture  of  textiles.  For  this  Finland  pos- 
sesses no  natural  advantages,  but  she  has  achieved 
considerable  results,  especially  in  the  last  twenty 
years,  during  which  the  value  of  the  production  has 
risen  from  about  20  to  about  70  millions  of  marks. 
The  chief  seat  of  the  industry  is  Tammerfors,  ad- 
vantageously situated  between  two  lakes  and  en- 
joying the  title  of  Finland's  Manchester.  From 
1856  to  1906  Tammerfors  enjoyed  important  privi- 
leges, by  which  its  manufacturers  were  allowed  to 
import  their  raw  material  duty-free,  even  if  it  had 
been  partly  improved.  The  largest  factory  is  that 
of  Finlayson  &  Co.,  named  after  the  Scotchman  who 
founded  it  in  1820.  There  are  important  factories 
also  at  Forssa,  Vasa,  Abo  and  Bjorneborg.  The 
annual  import  of  textiles  is  worth  about  25  millions 
of  marks,  of  which  Germany  sends  ten  millions,  Rus- 
sia seven,  and  Great  Britain  five.  The  export  is  not 
a  large  one  and  goes  almost  entirely  to  Russia. 

A  fair  quantity  of  linen  goods  is  exported  to  Rus- 
sia, though  limited  to  50,000  poods,  or  820  tons,  a 


234  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

year,  which  is  allowed  to  enter  under  the  preferen- 
tial duty  agreement.  The  same  quantity  of  cotton 
goods  is  also  allowed  under  the  same  preferential 
duty  agreement,  and  is  consequently  exported  to 
Eussia  annually. 

Finally,  mention  must  be  made  of  the  dairy  in- 
dustry, which  has  of  recent  decades  become  impor- 
tant, over  200,000  casks  of  butter  of  1  cwt.  each 
being  exported  annually.  By  far  the  greatest 
amount  is  sent  to  the  United  Kingdom.  Cheese  is 
also  made,  most  of  it  going  to  Petersburg. 

The  general  growth  of  Finnish  industries  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  figures : — 

The  imports  per  inhabitant  were  worth  23  marks  in  1856 

u  «  «     ;JL41  "  1911 

The  exports  per  inhabitant  were  worth     8         "         1856 

u    101         "         1911 
Thq  number  of  industrial  workers  rose  from  36,700  in  1885 
to  102,900  in  1911. 

Finnish  industries  are  highly  protected  and  are 
likely  to  remain  so.  Even  on  paper  the  duty  is  a 
very  heavy  one,  and  it  is  infinitely  cheaper  to  buy 
most  sorts  of  paper  in  Great  Britain  than  in  Fin- 
land, as  the  manufacturers  here  take  advantage  of 
the  tariff  to  keep  their  pricies  high. 

The  only  large  tariff  question  affecting  the  coun- 
try to-day  is  whether  or  not  Russia  will  abolish  the 
tariff  wall  separating  her  from  Finland.  Many  pol- 
iticians in  Russia  are  desirous  of  doing  so,  as  being 
part  of  their  policy  of  russianizing  Finland.  Rus- 
sian manufacturers,  on  the  other  hand,  are  strongly 
against  it  and  have  protested  against  the  scheme 


OTHER  INDUSTRIES  235 

both  individually  and  through  their  Chambers  of 
Commerce.  They  believe  that  they  stand  to  lose 
heavily  by  it,  as  while  there  is  a  substantial  duty 
on  Finnish  goods  going  into  Russia,  practically  all 
Russian  goods  coming  into  Finland  are  free  of  duty. 
Hitherto,  the  manufacturers'  protests  have  been  suc- 
cessful, but  it  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  the  pol- 
iticians will  gain  the  day.  The  effect  on  Finland 
of  the  removal  of  the  tariff  wall  would  vary  in  the 
different  industries.  Thus,  the  textiles  would  suffer, 
because  in  Finland  there  is  now  no  duty  on  raw 
cotton  and  in  Russia  there  is  a  heavy  one.  More- 
over, the  cotton  industry  is  highly  developed  in  Rus- 
sia. Paper,  on  the  other  hand,  would  probably  bene- 
fit considerably,  as  the  Russian  market  would  be 
open  to  it  duty-free,  while  at  present  the  duty  on 
Finnish  paper  is  very  heavy.  Indeed,  the  probable 
effect  of  the  change  would  be  the  shutting  up  of  the 
Russian  paper-mills.  Taking  it  on  the  whole,  it  is 
unlikely  that  the  removal  of  the  tariff  wall  would 
hurt  Finnish  trade,  seeing  that  the  huge  Russian 
market  would  be  opened  to  Finland.  As  business 
men  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  Finns  are 
inferior  to  Russians,  and  the  Finnish  working  men, 
even  if  they  should  prove  less  clever  and  quick  than 
the  best  Russians,  are  on  the  whole  steadier,  more 
orderly,  and  more  sober.  Moreover,  in  Russia  reg- 
ular work  is  constantly  being  interfered  with  by 
Saints'  days  and  other  holidays,  while  in  Finland 
work  proceeds  with  the  regularity  usual  in  other 
European  countries. 
The  great  need  of  Finnish  industry  at  the  present 


236  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

moment  is  more  capital  with  which  to  exploit  the 
natural  resources  of  the  country.  Seeing  that  the 
rate  of  interest  is  high,  there  is  an  excellent  open- 
ing for  the  judicious  investor.  The  banks  allow  5 
per  cent  on  a  deposit  standing  account,  3  per  cent 
on  a  current  account,  while  the  dividends  obtainable 
from  many  other  investments  considerably  exceed  5 
per  cent.  Curiously  enough,  so  far  Britishers  and 
Norwegians  seem  to  be  the  only  foreigners  who  have 
invested  money  in  Finnish  industrial  enterprises, 
and  they  partly  control  the  business  by  having  one 
or  two  men  on  the  board  of  directors  where  the  busi- 
ness is  not  entirely  managed  by  them. 

Finland  also  offers  a  very  fair  market  for  the 
British  manufacturer,  who,  however,  has  been  some- 
what slow  to  realize  its  possibilities.  At  present 
most  of  the  foreign  trade  is  with  German  firms, 
which  show  most  praiseworthy  energy  and  send  over 
large  numbers  of  agents  and  commercial  travellers. 
Nevertheless  British  goods  are  much  preferred  to 
German,  and  in  many  of  the  shops  German  goods 
are  passed  off  as  British  for  this  reason.  What 
handicaps  British  articles  is  usually  the  higher 
price.  But  this  is  sometimes  a  purely  artificial  dif- 
ficulty, as  British  goods  are  often  exported  to  Ger- 
many and  then  re-exported  to  Finland  instead  of 
being  sent  direct  from  England.  The  present  time 
is  a  favourable  one  for  an  effort  on  the  part  of 
British  firms  to  establish  a  direct  connection  with 
Finland.  For  there  is  now  a  strong  wave  of  inter- 
est in  everything  English.  The  language  is  being 
studied  more  than  ever  before  in  the  schools  and  at 


OTHER  INDUSTRIES  237 

the  University.  Finns  travel  in  England  and  send 
their  daughters  to  be  **  finished  ^^  there,  English 
books  are  read,  English  fashions  are  copied,  Eng- 
lish games  are  played.  A  commercial  rapproche- 
ment is  the  natural  concomitant  of  all  this,  and 
young  Finnish  business  men  are  beginning  to  study 
English  rather  than  German,  so  that  the  language 
difficulty  is  likely  to  grow  steadily  less.  British 
firms,  however,  are  slow  to  take  their  chance.  They 
should  send  energetic  representatives  who  speak 
German  or  Swedish  and  who  will  cultivate  personal 
relations  with  Finnish  business  men.  One  would  like 
to  see  a  stores  established  in  Helsingfors  in  which 
all  the  goods  were  guaranteed  of  British  make. 
There  might  be  an  opening  for  such  a  stores  in 
other  places  also,  for  Finland  is  a  country  with  an 
industrial  and  commercial  future  and  the  towns  are 
growing  rapidly. 

It  may  be  pointed  out  that  the  bankruptcy  laws 
in  Finland  protect  foreign  firms,  which  consequently 
do  not  have  to  fear  the  dangers  that  beset  them  in 
Russia. 

Partly  because  industry  itself  is  on  a  small  scale 
and  of  recent  growth,  industrial  legislation  is  still 
at  a  rather  elementary  stage.  Although  the  making 
of  matches  out  of  white  phosphorous  was  prohibited 
as  early  as  1865,  it  was  not  until  1889  that  a  more 
comprehensive  factory  law  was  passed,  which  is  still 
in  operation.  This  aimed  chiefly  at  safeguarding 
children.  No  child  under  twelve  years  of  age  could 
be  employed  in  a  factory  at  all,  and  night-work  was 
forbidden  for  persons  under  eighteen. 


238  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

The  maximum  number  of  working  hours  for  chil- 
dren under  the  age  of  fifteen  is  six  and  a  half,  that 
for  persons  between  fifteen  and  eighteen  is  twelve. 
Children  who  have  not  been  to  a  secondary  tech- 
nical school  have  to  attend  classes  at  least  twelve 
hours  a  week.  Certain  minimum  sanitary  condi- 
tions are  exacted,  and  inspectors  are  appointed  to 
see  that  the  law  is  obeyed.  At  the  present  day  some 
of  these  inspectors  are  women. 

In  1895  was  passed  a  Workmen's  Protection  Act, 
by  which  employers  are  compelled  to  compensate 
workmen  for  injuries  received  while  in  their  em- 
ployment. In  case  such  injuries  should  result  in 
permanently  unfitting  the  injured  person  for  work, 
or  in  death,  the  employer  is  required  to  guarantee 
his  ability  to  pay  the  necessary  compensation  by  in- 
suring his  workmen  with  approved  companies.  By 
a  law  passed  in  1902,  sailors  on  board  Finnish  ships 
are  placed  in  a  similar  position.  Sickness  insurance 
is  not  compulsory. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Finnish  industrial  legis- 
lation requires  much  improvement.  But  the  fault 
lies  not  with  the  Finns  but  with  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment, which  has  refused  to  sanction  many  Bills 
passed  by  the  Finnish  Diet  with  the  object  of  bet- 
tering the  position  of  the  working  classes.  What 
Finland  is  aiming  at  in  this  respect  may  be  seen 
from  the  Bakeries  Law  of  1908,  which  is  one  of  the 
very  few  pieces  of  legislation  the  Single  Chamber 
Diet  has  succeeded  in  getting  through.  This  law: 
confines  work  to  weekdays  and  forbids  night-work, 
i.e.,  between  9  p.m.  and  6  a.m. ;  establishes  a  forty- 


OTHER  INDUSTRIES  239 

eight  hour  week;  permits  of  not  more  than  120 
hours'  overtime  per  annum,  overtime  being  paid  50 
per  cent  above  the  usual  rate;  provides  for  the  in- 
spection of  bakeries ;  prescribes  strict  sanitary  con- 
ditions, and  makes  offenders  against  all  these  pro- 
visions liable  to  fines  of  from  10  to  700  marks. 
Hotels  and  pensions  come  under  the  operation  of 
this  law,  as  well  as  bakeries.  The  law  is  thus  an 
excellent  piece  of  work,  and  as  soon  as  Finland  is 
free  to  carry  out  her  own  wishes  in  the  matter  she 
will  doubtless  pass  more  industrial  legislation  on 
the  same  lines. 

Meanwhile  she  does  what  she  can.  A  permanent 
exhibition  has  been  established  for  the  showing  of 
all  the  latest  inventions  for  the  protecting  and  safe- 
guarding of  workmen  in  the  workshop,  factory  and 
mine,  and  Miss  Vera  Hjelt,  its  chief  promoter,  looks 
forward  to  the  day  when  factory-life  shall  be  made 
so  safe  that  **  there  need  be  no  danger  that  we 
should  not  be  prepared  to  share  with  the  manual 
labourer.''  At  the  same  time  a  considerable  social 
reform  literature  is  growing  up  in  Finland,  typical 
of  which  are  such  books  as  Miss  Hjelt 's  investigation 
of  the  standard  of  living  among  the  industrial 
workers,  with  its  rich  statistical  material,  and  the 
same  writer's  study  of  seamstresses.  Although  of 
great  interest  to  residents  in  Finland,  these  books 
are  too  detailed  to  attract  the  foreign  reader  who 
is  not  something  of  an  expert,  and  therefore  will 
not  be  described  here.  "With  reference  to  the  former 
book,  however,  it  may  be  of  general  interest  to 
point  out  that  the  average  income  of  the  350  families 


240  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

investigated  was  about  £65,  of  which  about  four- 
fifths  was  earned  by  the  head  of  the  family.  The 
main  items  of  expenditure  were  as  follows : — 

Per  Cent. 

Food  55.4 

Housing 12 .4 

Clothing 11.8 

Heat  and  light     ...         ...         ...  ...       4.1 

Prices  are  rising  here  as  elsewhere,  and  usually  at 
a  higher  rate  than  wages.  Two  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  of  the  families  managed  to  live  on  their  earn- 
ings, while  91  families  were  forced  either  to  bor- 
row or  to  encroach  on  their  savings — not  a  very  sat- 
isfactory state  of  things. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  LABOUR  MOVEMENT 

IN  many  ways  the  year  1899  marks  the  beginning 
of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  Finland,  and  will 
be  looked  upon  by  future  chroniclers  as  a  turning- 
point  in  the  national  life.  Not  only  was  it  the  year 
in  which  the  russianization  of  the  country  seriously 
began,  with  its  profoundly  disturbing  effect  on  the 
entire  nation,  but  it  was  also  the  year  which  saw  the 
birth  of  a  self-conscious  Labour  movement  which 
seems  destined  to  influence  in  a  far-reaching  manner 
the  whole  future  development  of  the  country.  It  is 
true  that  a  number  of  working  men's  associations 
existed  as  early  as  the  eighteen-eighties,  but  it  was 
only  in  1899  that  an  organized  Labour  party  came 
into  being,  as  the  result  of  a  congress  at  Abo.  A 
Finnish  Socialist  explains  the  late  development  of 
the  movement  by  saying  that  it  could  not  arise  before 
the  National  movement  had  ^' paved  the  way  of  edu- 
cation for  the  lower  ranks  of  the  nation.  .  .  .  The 
rise  of  the  social  question  is  nothing  but  the  second 
step  in  our  nation's  great  process  of  awakening  and 
development  which  the  National  movement  began.'' 
But  if  the  Labour  movement  came  into  being  late, 
it  has  made  up  for  this  by  the  rapidity  of  its  growth. 

241 


242  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

This  is  mainly  due  to  the  unquiet  period  which  gave 
it  birth,  though  it  may  also  be  remarked  that  ideas 
and  movements  seem  to  spread  through  small  na- 
tions with  a  rapidity  far  above  what  is  usual  in  large 
nations.  Both  the  russianization  and  the  resistance 
to  russianization  added  fuel  to  its  fire.  Bobrikoff 
prepared  a  way  for  it  by  his  contempt  for  law  and 
tradition,  which  helped  to  destroy  old  sanctions  in 
the  minds  of  the  people.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pas- 
sive resisters,  by  initiating  the  great  national  ad- 
dress of  protest  to  the  Tsar  and  other  movements  in 
which  the  people  as  a  whole  shared,  did  much  to 
make  the  masses  of  the  people  politically  conscious. 
To  these  two  factors  must  be  added  a  third — 
namely,  the  growth  of  the  revolutionary  movement 
in  Russia  during  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  which, 
in  this  stormy  period,  inevitably  reacted  on  Fin- 
land. Both  in  Russia  and  Finland  the  autumn  of 
1905  brought  a  crisis  to  a  head,  and  in  either  case  a 
General  Strike  was  the  deciding  factor.  The  strike 
in  Russia  forced  the  Tsar  to  concede  the  Duma ;  the 
strike  in  Finland  induced  him  to  restore  the  Con- 
stitution and  enlarge  its  basis. 

The  General  Strike  in  Finland  had  a  double  char- 
acter. It  was  aimed  primarily  against  the  Russian 
oppressors  of  the  country,  but  it  also  took  on  the 
aspect  of  a  rising  of  labour  against  capital,  and  was 
followed  by  a  considerable  bitterness  of  class  feel- 
ing, which  was  accentuated  by  the  occurrence  of  an 
outbreak  in  which  a  few  persons  were  killed.  The 
success  of  the  strike,  in  which  the  Labour  leaders 
naturally  had  a  large  share,  together  with  the  mil- 


THE  LABOUR  MOVEMENT  243 

lennial  hopes  that  floated  in  the  air  both  in  Russia 
and  Finland  during  that  wonderful  time,  brought 
the  Labour  cause  forward  with  a  rush.  The  adop- 
tion of  universal  suffrage  deepened  the  class-con- 
sciousness of  the  manual  workers,  and  the  result 
was  a  Socialist  triumph  at  the  polls  in  the  first  elec- 
tion under  the  new  system.^ 

But  although  the  circumstances  we  have  men- 
tioned account  for  the  suddenness  and  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  the  movement,  they  could  not  have  had 
such  an  effect  if  the  soil  had  not  been  ripe  for  them. 
The  real  cause  of  the  hold  taken  by  Socialism  lies,  as 
we  saw,  in  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  country- 
side— the  existence  of  a  large  number  of  persons 
who  own  no  land  and  the  precarious  position  of 
many  of  the  torpare,  or  tenants.  It  follows  from 
this  that  Finnish  Socialism  has  its  chief  strength  not 
in  the  towns  but  in  the  country.  Of  the  48,000  mem- 
bers of  the  party  in  1912,  only  about  one  quarter 
were  town-dwellers.  From  this,  again,  it  follows 
that  trade  unionism  has  had  less  to  do  with  the 
movement  than  in  most  other  countries.  It  stands 
to  reason  that  there  will  be  comparatively  little 
trade  union  organization  where  there  are  few  towns 
and  few  factories.    As  industry  develops,  however, 

^  The  rapid  growth  of  the  movement  may  be  illustrated  by  a 
few  figures.  In  1899  the  membership  of  the  Social  Democratic 
party  was  9,446.  In  1908  it  had  risen  to  71,266.  It  is  true  that 
by  1912  it  had  sunk  to  48,406,  but  this  does  not  imply  a  corre- 
sponding loss  of  influence  in  the  countrry,  as  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  the  percentage  of  Socialist  votes  to  the  total  poll  has 
risen  steadily,  since  the  election  of  1907,  from  36.7  to  40.1  per 
cent.,  and  the  deputies  elected  from  80  to  86  in  a  House  of  200. 
In  1912  the  party  had  no  less  than  1,450  branches. 


244  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

this  state  of  things  is  being  modified,  and  there  is 
every  reason  to  think  that  trade  unions  have  a  prom- 
ising future.  The  working  classes  in  Finland  realize 
instinctively  how  important  the  solidarity  of  the 
people  is  in  their  struggle  for  better  conditions,  and 
this  is  the  best  of  bases  for  the  common  action  which 
trade  unionism  implies. 

The  capacity  of  the  Finns  for  common  action  is 
strikingly  shown  by  the  success  of  the  Co-operative 
movement,  which  flourishes  especially  among  the 
Finnish-speaking  population.  In  1899  some  enter- 
prising persons  founded  Pellervo,  a  society  for  the 
propagation  of  the  co-operative  principle  among 
the  peasantry.  Thus,  co-operation  in  Finland  did 
not,  as  in  most  other  countries,  originate  from  the 
independent  initiative  of  the  working  classes,  but 
was  the  result  of  a  deliberate  propaganda.  Pellervo 
did  a  great  work  of  education  in  preparing  models 
for  co-operative  societies,  training  and  sending  out 
lecturers,  publishing  books,  issuing  tracts,  insti- 
tuting travelling  libraries  and  helping  the  peasants 
to  start  co-operative  associations.  Moreover,  some 
of  its  members  had  previously  paved  the  way  for 
the  success  of  the  movement  by  agitating  for  a  law 
of  co-operation,  which  was  sanctioned  in  1901. 

The  most  important  branches  of  co-operation  in 
Finland  are  dairies,  banks  and  stores.  All  these 
have  proved  very  successful.  There  are  also  many 
other  kinds  of  co-operative  undertakings,  such  as 
societies  for  the  purchase  of  thrashing  machines  and 
moss  litter,  for  the  buying  and  selling  of  eggs,  for 
the  procuring  of  telephones,  for  the  acquisition  of 


THE  LABOUR  MOVEMENT  245 

land,  the  securing  of  steamboats  for  inland  traffic, 
etc.  In  the  towns  there  are  co-operative  bakeries, 
restaurants,  etc.  In  addition  to  the  local  societies 
there  are  four  large  central  societies,  including  one, 
named  Valio,  for  the  sale  of  the  members'  butter. 
In  1906  20  per  cent  of  the  butter  exported  from 
Hango  came  from  Valio,  and  in  1909  the  amount  had 
risen  to  42  per  cent.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
banks  are  relatively  few  where  big  properties  exist, 
relatively  numerous  where  small  holdings  are  com- 
mon. Some  idea  of  the  extremely  rapid  growth  of 
the  movement  may  be  gained  from  the  figures  given 
in  the  footnote.^  Of  its  importance  to  the  country 
there  can  be  no  question,  and  its  value  is  not  merely 
economic  but  educational  and  ethical.  Punctuality, 
orderliness  and  business  habits  are  fostered.  The 
principles  of  scientific  farming  are  learned  and  the 
mind  is  brought  to  bear  on  problems  of  organization 
and  management.     The  sense  of  responsibility  is 

^  The  co-operative  dairies  in  1903  numbered  75,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  5,500  and  a  sale  of  3V2  millions  of  marks.  In  1908 
there  were  343  dairies,  33,200  members  and  the  sales  had  risen 
to  29  millions. 


No.  of 

No.  of 

Loans  in  Millions 

Banks. 

Members. 

of  Marks. 

1903 

24 

500 

.04 

1908 

308 

11,900 

3.10 

No.  of 

No.  of 

Sales  in  Millions 

Stores. 

Members. 

of  Marks. 

1903 

71 

13,000 

6 

1908 

495 

100,000 

52 

The  central  societies  show  a  similarity  rapid  growth. 

In  1909  87  per  cent  of  all  the  co-operative  societies  were  in. 
the  country,  only  13  per  cent  in  the  towns.  The  membership  is, 
however,  relatively  greater  in  the  towns.  The  number  of  co- 
operators  per  1,000  inhabitants  is  about  50  for  the  entire  pop- 
ulation. 


246  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

developed,  and  the  sense  of  social  solidarity.  The 
peasant  through  co-operation  enters  into  a  wider 
mental  and  moral  life,  and  is  led  to  realize  how 
ultimately  he  may  come  to  be  the  master  of  his  own 
destiny. 

The  Finnish  Socialists  are  strictly  Marxist,  and 
their  programme  is  based  on  the  Erfurt  programme 
of  the  German  Socialists,  from  which  it  differs  but 
slightly.  The  movement  is  still  crude  in  many  re- 
spects, having  developed  far  too  rapidly.  Many 
who  profess  Socialism  most  eagerly  can  hardly  be 
supposed  to  have  grasped  its  implications.  Its 
Parliamentary  representatives  have  sometimes  put 
forward  schemes  which  showed  an  incapacity  to 
grasp  the  actual  conditions  of  Finnish  economy.  It 
seems,  moreover,  to  an  outsider,  that  class  hatred 
has  been  preached  to  an  extent  that  mny  endanger 
Finland's  unity  of  action  and  blind  people  to  an 
objective  view  of  things.  Class  hatred  was  suf- 
ficiently embittered  in  the  days  following  the  Great 
Strike,  and  it  is  surely  a  dangerous  policy  to  further 
play  on  this  feeling.  It  may  also  be  suggested  that 
the  movement  would  not  suffer  by  developing  the 
spirit  of  poetry  alongside  the  spirit  of  economics, 
and  by  insisting  on  the  responsibilities  of  the 
workers  as  well  as  on  their  rights.  Nevertheless, 
however  much  one  may  regret  certain  developments 
among  the  Socialists,  the  movement  has  much  to  its 
credit  side.  Its  organization  is  wonderfully  good 
and  its  enthusiasm  for  education  inspires  confidence. 
The  ^* People's  Houses"  which  exist  in  many  Fin- 
nish towns  are  a  real  tribute  to  the  solid  qualities  of 


THE  LABOUR  MOVEMENT  247 

those  from  whom  they  have  sprung.  That  in  Hels- 
ingfors  is  particularly  fine.  It  is  the  headquarters 
of  the  Socialist  party  and  also  of  the  trade  unions, 
most  of  which  have  their  head-offices  there.  There 
is  a  fine  spirit  of  comradeship  ahout  the  place.  In 
the  great  hall,  one  of  the  largest  in  Helsingfors, 
first-rate  concerts  can  be  heard  at  a  very  low  price. 
The  party  has  instituted  all  over  the  country  a  great 
many  societies  for  spreading  popular  enlightenment, 
including  libraries  and  reading-rooms,  dramatic  and 
musical  societies  and  sports  clubs.  It  also  owns  a 
considerable  Press,  including  six  dailies,  the  most 
important  of  which  is  Tyomies  (The  Working  Man). 
Previous  to  1905  there  were  but  few  Socialist 
papers,  while  to-day  their  combined  circulation  is 
over  135,000. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  indignation  and  pessimism 
among  the  upper  classes  on  account  of  the  startling 
development  of  the  Socialist  movement  and  the 
acutness  of  its  class  feeling.  One  cannot  help  the 
reflection,  however,  that  in  the  Socialist  movement 
the  upper  classes  are  to  some  extent  reaping  what 
they  have  themselves  sown.  The  violence  of  party 
feeling  between  the  Fennomans  and  Svekomans  in 
the  past  caused  both  of  them  somewhat  to  neglect 
the  material  well-being  of  the  people,  while  their 
preaching  of  hate  against  each  other  paved  the  way 
for  the  preaching  of  hate  between  class  and  class. 
Probably,  however,  the  situation  is  not  so  bad  as 
people  fear.  The  Finnish  peasant  moves  very 
slowly,  and,  although  there  may  be  some  Syndicalist 
feeling  in  parts  of  the  country.  Labour  unrest  is  not 


248  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

likely  to  break  out  seriously,  unless  stimulated  by 
some  outside  event,  sucb  as  a  revolution  in  Russia. 
Meanwhile,  future  trouble  might  be  saved  if  Labour 
and  Capital  would  try  to  meet,  not  as  opposing 
parties  in  a  law-court  but  as  human  beings.  No 
lasting  agreement  can  be  reached  where  the  two 
parties  do  not  make  a  genuine  attempt  to  under- 
stand one  another  and  to  enter  into  each  other's 
lives  and  difficulties.  This  is  unusually  difficult  in 
Finland,  owing  to  the  obstinacy  of  the  national  char- 
acter and  the  extreme  self-righteousness  of  the 
opposing  parties,  unsoftened  by  any  feeling  which 
might  prompt  them  to  regard  each  other  as  men  and 
brothers.  To  say  that  a  thing  is  difficult,  however, 
is  not  to  say  that  it  is  impossible,  and  there  are 
among  the  upper  classes  of  Finland  plenty  of  peo- 
ple who  have  the  welfare  of  the  working  classes 
genuinely  at  heart  and  love  the  people,  not  merely 
as  statistical  units,  but  for  their  own  sake  and  be- 
cause they  know  their  lives.  From  such  people  the 
basis  of  an  understanding  might  arise.  Only  an 
unimaginative  person  will  discern  in  the  Labour 
movement  nothing  but  the  crudities  of  its  green- 
sickness and  remain  blind  to  the  inspring  idea  of 
the  manual  workers  of  a  nation  alive  to  their  com- 
mon interests,  united  in  pursuing  them  and  deter- 
mined to  avoid,  if  possible,  the  grosser  evils  of 
industrialism  as  existing  in  most  other  countries. 

We  may  conclude  by  quoting  Snellman's  aphor- 
ism: *' Every  loosened  bond  at  first  brings  the  froth 
to  the  surface  of  a  nation's  life.  It  is  through  the 
exercise  of  freedom  that  people  learn  its  use." 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  BIGHTS  OF  WOMEN 

THE  Feminist  movement  in  Finland  has  not  been 
without  its  heralds  in  literature,  and  before 
speaking  of  it  in  its  practical  aspects  it  may  be 
well  to  glance  at  the  life  of  the  remarkable  woman 
who  in  her  novels  and  plays  best  embodied  the  new 
ideals  and  aspirations  of  women. 

Minna  Canth  was  born  in  1844  at  Tammerfors. 
Her  father,  who  some  years  later  moved  to  Kuopio, 
where  he  kept  a  store,  was  comfortably  off.  Minna 
was  educated  at  a  Swedish  school  in  Kuopio,  with 
the  intention  of  becoming  a  schoolmistress.  In  1863 
she  went  to  Jyvaskyla,  where  the  first  Finnish  col- 
lege for  the  training  of  elementary  teachers  had 
just  been  opened.  Two  years  later,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four,  she  married  one  of  the  teachers.  At 
this  point  a  life  which  had  hitherto  been  happy  was 
overclouded.  Her  husband  proved  to  be  a  narrow- 
minded  tyrant,  without  the  slightest  perception  of 
his  wife's  character  and  abilities.  She  was  not 
allowed  to  have  a  servant  or  even  to  see  people 
freely,  and  she  had  to  dress  according  to  her  hus- 
band's instructions.  In  1874,  however,  her  husband 
became  editor  of  a  paper,  and  Minna  did  most  of  the 

249 


250  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

work  on  it,  developing  a  fine  literary  talent.  But 
when  she  wrote  an  article  against  the  misuse  of 
brandy,  the  proprietor  of  the  paper,  who  owned  a 
distillery,  dismissed  her  husband.  An  important 
event  in  her  life  about  this  time  was  the  visit  of  a 
theatrical  company  to  Jyvaskyla,  which  filled  her 
with  the  desire  to  write  plays — she  had  never  seen 
a  play  before.  In  1879  her  husband  died.  She  was 
left  a  widow  with  seven  children,  the  youngest  of 
whom  was  born  nearly  seven  months  after  the  hus- 
band's death.  She  returned  to  Kuopio  and  took  to 
the  business  her  father  had  formerly  carried  on. 
She  served  behind  the  counter  and  meanwhile  did 
as  much  writing  as  she  could.  As  her  business 
prospered — ^for  she  was  a  most  capable  woman — 
she  devoted  more  and  more  time  to  literature  and 
the  drama.  As  a  Finnish  writer  says:  **When  she 
stood  in  her  shop  busied  with  her  daily  toil  to  earn 
her  bread,  the  visitor  did  not  guess,  unless  he  knew 
it  beforehand,  that  he  had  before  him  one  of  the 
most  important  personalities  in  Finnish  literature. 
But  if  he  crossed  the  threshold  of  her  hospitable 
home  he  was  met  by  a  breath  of  real  culture  of  ideal- 
ism and  of  European  civilization. ' ' 

The  best  introduction  to  her  works  is  to  be  found 
in  her  comments  upon  her  own  life:  '*When,  as  a 
young  mother,  I  stood  before  life's  most  sacred 
claims,  irresolute,  more  ignorant  than  any  so-called 
uneducated  woman,  I  learned  profoundly  to  despise 
and  condemn  the  miserable  thing  which  is  called 
woman's  education,  that  delusion  which  goes  by  the 
name  of  woman's  culture.    I  place  the  responsibility 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  251 

for  every  bad  mistake  I  made  in  looking  after  tlie 
children,  for  every  dearly-bought  experience,  on  the 
wretched  system  of  education  which,  instead  of  pre- 
paring woman  for  life,  drives  her  helplessly  astray. 
And  when  at  last  I  had  succeeded  in  acquiring  the 
power  to  fulfil  the  duties  that  a  quiet  life  in  a  secure 
position  demands  of  a  mother,  I  and  my  children 
were  suddenly  deprived  of  our  support.  Then  once 
more  I  stood  irresolute,  unprepared,  alone  respon- 
sible for  a  large  family,  although  my  mind  had  never 
been  made  to  realize  such  a  possibility,  still  less  been 
given  an  insight  into  it,  while,  to^  crown  all,  I  found 
most  of  the  sources  of  income  which  are  open  to  men 
were  closed  to  me  as  a  woman.  With  a  body  very 
weak  from  the  birth  of  many  children  following 
closely  one  upon  the  other,  ill,  miserable,  weighed 
down  by  trouble  and  anxiety,  I  saw  before  me  a  life 
of  poverty  and  need,  perhaps  meanly  sustained  by 
humiliating  alms  and  charity,  and  this  not  only  for 
myself  but  for  the  many  little  ones  to  whom  I  had 
given  life.  In  desperation  I  grasped  instinctively 
at  the  first  best  expedient,  or  rather,  the  only  pos- 
sible one  I  could  find,  and  thus  took  to  trade,  with- 
out capital  and  without  knowledge.  In  spite  of  this, 
I  was  successful,  owing  to  a  combination  of  favour- 
able circumstances  and  the  gradual  return  of  my 
health  and  strength.  The  crisis  was  past,  but  I  had 
issued  from  it  with  my  eyes  open  not  only  to  what  is 
false  in  woman's  position  in  society,  but  also  to 
various  other  social  injustices  and  wrongs.  It  is 
not  any  light-headed  lust  of  destruction,  but  the 
hard  serious  realities  of  life,  that  urge  woman  and 


252  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  workman  to  opposition  against  society  as  it  now 
is.  And  as  the  cause  lies  deep,  they  will  not  know 
of  any  retrogression  or  reaction  before  they  have 
reached  the  goal  of  their  striving.  No  reference  to 
'existing  conditions,'  *  historical  evolution'  or  Apoliti- 
cal wisdom'  can  compel  them  to  continue  to  endure 
injustices,  so  long  as  they  are  not  given  the  right, 
by  participating  in  legislation,  to  try  to  reshape 
these  conditions  and  themselves  to  exercise  influence 
on  the  course  of  historical  evolution." 

It  is  easy  to  see  from  the  above  what  was  the  con- 
tent of  Minna  Canth's  novels  and  plays.  The  titles 
alone  are  enough  to  indicate  it — **Poor  Folk,"  '^The 
Workman's  Wife,"  '^Voices  of  the  People,"  ''The 
Unfortunate."  Her  themes  are  that  there  is  one 
law  for  the  rich  and  another  for  the  poor,  one  law 
for  the  man  and  another  for  the  woman.  She  gave 
voice  to  the  awakening  social  consciousness  of  the 
time  and  thus  acted  as  a  powerful  inspiration  both 
to  the  woman's  movement  and,  in  a  lesser  degree, 
to  the  Socialists.  Women,  especially,  speak  of  her 
in  terms  of  the  utmost  veneration  and  affection. 

Judged  purely  as  literature,  her  work  must  be  said 
to  suffer  from  the  intensity  of  its  propagandist 
spirit,  which  causes  her  at  times  to  strike  a  false 
note  and  sacrifice  considerations  of  art.  Neverthe- 
less there  is  a  power  about  her  and  a  sincerity  and  a 
sanity  which  makes  her  characters  and  situations 
vividly  alive  and  caused  her  plays  to  arouse  a  bitter 
fury  of  opposition. 

Such  is  the  woman  who  typifies  the  more  serious, 
determined  and  large-hearted  side  of  Finnish  wom- 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  253 

anhood.  We  may  now  take  a  leap  over  intervening 
years  and  consider  the  harvest  that  sprang  in  part 
from  the  efforts  she  inspired. 

On  July  20, 1906,  was  promulgated  in  Finland  the 
new  law  of  the  Diet  which  gave  women  the  political 
franchise  on  the  same  terms  as  men ;  and  in  March, 
1907,  the  first  election  took  place  on  the  basis  of 
the  new  law.  Finland  was  thus  the  first  country  in 
Europe  which  made  the  experiment  of  women's  suf- 
frage. 

To  understand  the  motive  that  induced  Finland  to 
make  this  experiment,  both  general  and  particular 
circumstances  must  be  taken  into  account.  The  main 
general  circumstance  is  to  be  found  in  the  unusually 
large  share  taken  by  women  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 
This,  in  its  turn,  is  chiefly  due  to  the  fact  that  Fin- 
land is  a  poor  country,  and  has  hitherto  been  unable 
to  afford  the  luxury  either  of  a  large  non-producing 
class  or  of  a  large  number  of  idle  women.  When 
Nature  is  niggardly  and  the  struggle  for  existence 
hard,  both  men  and  women  must  work.  The  women 
of  the  lower  classes  do  their  full  share,  whether  on 
the  farm  or  in  the  factory,  though  especially  on  the 
farm,  where  they  not  only  tend  the  cattle  and  help  at 
haymaking  and  harvest,  but  often  do  such  rough 
work  as  ploughing  and  hedging  and  ditching,  besides 
taking  part  in  such  different  pursuits  as  fishing  and 
building,  and  burning  the  forests  to  make  fields.  If 
we  turn  from  lower  to  middle  class  women,  we  find 
the  same  principle  in  operation.  It  is  regarded  as 
natural  and  right  for  them  to  earn  their  living,  and 
an  idle  woman  is  apt  to  be  looked  at  askance.    Of 


254  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

middle-class  women  a  large  number  are  engaged  in 
commerce.  They  hold  positions  in  banks  and  busi- 
ness houses  as  clerks  and  cashiers  to  an  extent  that 
astonishes  the  foreign  visitor,  who  also  learns  with 
surprise  the  number  of  women  who  are  doctors, 
dentists,  architects.  Women  have  also  thrown 
themselves  with  enthusiasm  into  the  work  of  educa- 
tion, and  to-day  they  outnumber  the  men  teachers 
both  in  the  elementary  schools  and  in  the  secondary 
private  schools.  Of  recent  years  the  women  have 
flocked  in  great  numbers  to  the  University,  and  are 
likely  soon  to  be  eligible  for  election  to  professor- 
ships and  lectureships.  Among  other  sources  of 
employment  for  women  are  certain  branches  of  the 
public  administration. 

A  subsidiary  circumstance  which  made  Finland 
more  predisposed  than  most  countries  to  the  idea  of 
women's  suffrage  is  the  prevalence  of  co-education, 
which,  whatever  its  advantages  and  disadvantages 
may  be,  has  certainly  helped  to  familiarize  men  and 
women  with  the  idea  and  the  practice  of  working  side 
by  side  and  enjoying  the  same  rights  and  responsi- 
bilities. 

Passing  from  general  circumstances  f avoruable  to 
women's  suffrage  to  particular  ones,  we  are  con- 
fronted with  the  stirring  events  of  the  last  fifteen 
years.  Previous  to  those  events  there  was,  indeed,  a 
Feminist  movement  in  Finland,  which  began  to  be 
organized  in  the  eighteen-eighties.  In  1884  a  Wom- 
an's Suffrage  Bill  was  introduced  in  the  first  of  the 
old  ^^Four  Estates"  (the  Chamber  of  the  Nobility). 
The  Bill  was  defeated,  but  it  proves  that  as  early 


THE  EIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  255 

as  1884  women's  political  rights  had  at  least  received 
some  recognition.  Fifteen  years  later  began  that 
curious  concatenation  of  events  which  carried  the 
movement  to  a  realization  of  its  central  aim.  For 
in  1899  the  Tsar  issued  the  famous  February  Mani- 
festo, which  at  a  stroke  deprived  Finland  of  her 
Constitution.  Not  content  with  protesting  against 
this  coup  d'etat  through  the  ordinary  channels,  the 
leaders  of  public  opinion  in  Finland  desired  to  make 
a  protest  which  should  be  representative  of  the 
nation  at  large.  A  great  address  to  the  Tsar  was 
planned  and  carried  out,  every  adult  man  and  wom- 
an in  the  country  being  invited  to  sign  it.  It  was 
generally  felt  that  this  appeal  to  the  non-enfran- 
chised portions  of  the  nation  at  a  time  of  crisis  im- 
plied a  moral  responsibility  to  enfranchise  them, 
both  men  and  women,  when  the  crisis  had  passed. 
The  women,  moreover,  proved  themselves  of  great 
value  during  the  period  of  russianization  which  fol- 
lowed the  February  Manifesto,  both  by  the  moral 
stimulus  they  gave  to  passive  resistance  and  by 
m^ny  services  in  the  same  cause.  They  often  under- 
took work  which  it  was  impossible  for  the  men  to 
carry  out.  In  1905  took  place  the  Great  Strike, 
which  resulted  in  the  restoration  of  the  Constitution, 
and  when  subsequently  the  question  arose  of  widen- 
ing the  electoral  system,  and  the  women  put  for- 
ward their  claim  to  the  vote,  this  was  agreed  to  by 
all  the  Four  Estates  with  hardly  a  dissentient  voice, 
special  reference  being  made  in  the  debates  to  the 
great  services  rendered  by  the  women  in  resisting 
russianization. 


256  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

It  seems  clear  that  had  not  the  women  been  helped 
by  outer  circumstances  they  would  not  have  gained 
the  vote  as  early  as  1905.  They  have  to  thank  for 
their  enfranchisement  not  only  their  own  efforts, 
but  also  both  the  exalted  state  of  national  feeling 
which  followed  the  restoration  of  constitutional 
government  and  the  wave  of  strongly  democratic 
sentiment  which  accompanied  the  Great  Strike.  It 
is  no  less  clear,  however,  that  the  women  would  not 
have  been  enfranchised  even  under  these  circum- 
stances had  they  not  shown  by  their  conduct  in  a 
time  of  crisis  that  they  had  earned  the  right  to  be 
considered  as  citizens. 

How  did  the  women  utilize  the  vote  thus  acquired? 

Before  trying  to  indicate  what  they  have  actually 
done,  it  may  be  well  to  clear  the  ground  by  pointing 
out  a  number  of  things  that  they  have  not  done. 
Firstly,  they  have  not  formed  an  independent  wom- 
an's party.  There  was,  indeed,  some  talk  of  this, 
but  the  idea  was  abandoned.  There  were  good  rea- 
sons against  it.  In  the  first  place  women  were 
politically  inexperienced;  and  in  the  second,  seeing 
that  they  already  enjoyed  full  political  rights,  the 
formation  of  a  special  party  seemed  unnecessary. 
Accordingly  the  women  joined  the  political  groups 
already  existing,  and  election  statistics  show  that 
they  have  voted  for  the  different  parties  in  much 
the  same  proportion  as  the  men.  There  is  no  truth 
in  the  assertion  sometimes  made  that  woman's  suf- 
frage has  especially  benefited  the  Socialist  party. 
An  investigation  made  by  two  members  of  the  Diet, 
Dagmar  and  Arvid  Neovius,  shows,  on  the  contrary, 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  257 

that  it  was  in  districts  where  the  women  voters  out- 
numbered the  men  that  the  percentage  of  Socialist 
votes  was  smallest. 

Secondly,  women  did  not  fail  to  use  their  votes. 
The  percentage  of  women  on  the  register  who  have 
voted  at  the  various  elections  since  1907  has  varied 
between  54  and  60  per  cent,  the  corresponding  fig- 
ures for  men  being  64  and  70  per  cent. 

Thirdly,  in  spite  of  their  numerical  preponderance 
— there  are  about  60,000  more  women  than  men  on 
the  register — women  have  not  flooded  the  Diet  with 
representatives  of  their  own  sex.  The  number  of 
women  elected  has  varied  from  twenty-five  to  four- 
teen in  a  House  of  two  hundred  members,  i.e.,  from 
12.5  to  7  per  cent.  Women's  moderation  in  this 
respect  has  been  due  to  a  recognition  of  the  greater 
political  experience  of  men,  to  the  feeling  that  the 
conflict  with  Russia  made  the  time  inopportune  for 
introducing  changes  or  risking  experiments  on  a 
large  scale,  and  also  perhaps  to  a  growing  convic- 
tion that  a  small  number  of  women  representatives 
is  sufficient  to  ensure  a  due  recognition  of  women's 
interests,  seeing  that  experience  shows  that  men  pay 
great  attention  to  the  opinion  of  women  on  subjects 
which  mainly  concern  the  female  sex. 

Fourthly,  women  have  not  wasted  the  House's 
time  by  prolixity  of  speech. 

When  we  pass  to  the  question  of  what  women 
have  actually  achieved  some  valuable  evidence  is 
available.  In  January,  1913,  when  the  Danish  Gov- 
ernment's plans  for  electoral  reform  were  being  dis- 
cussed, the  leader  of  the  Right  asserted  that  in  most 


258  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

countries  where  women's  suffrage  had  been  intro- 
duced there  was  a  feeling  of  great  discontent  with 
it.  The  Danish  women  saw  a  danger  to  their  cause 
in  the  spread  of  such  reports,  and,  in  order  to  meet 
it,  applied  to  competent  persons,  in  countries  where 
women  already  enjoyed  the  franchise,  to  give  their 
opinion  on  the  subject.  Dr.  Maikki  Friberg  took  up 
the  matter  as  regards  Finland,  and  collected  a  num- 
ber of  representative  opinions.  These  are  valuable 
as  coming  not  from  young  enthusiasts,  but  from 
tried  statesmen  and  public  men,  whose  names  are 
respected  throughout  Finland.  As  their  testimony 
about  the  actual  work  of  the  women  and  the  general 
effects  of  the  suffrage  is  infinitely  more  valuable 
than  the  writer's  own  opinion  could  possibly  be,  I 
shall  quote  from  them  at  some  length.^ 

With  regard  to  the  character  and  qualifications  of 
the  women  representatives  in  the  Diet,  the  follow- 
ing extracts  may  be  taken  as  typical.     Professor 

^  Of  the  persons  whose  opinions  I  quote,  the  late  Senator 
Meehelin  was  the  best  known  of  Finnish  statesmen  and  an  emi- 
nent champion  of  Finland's  constitutional  rights.  Theodore 
Eein  was  successively  Professor  of  Philosophy,  Eector  and  Vice- 
chancellor  of  the  University,  besides  having  been  a  prominent 
figure  in  politics  and  literature.  Baron  Wrede,  after  being  Pro- 
fessor of  Civil  Law,  became  President  of  the  Department  of  Jus- 
tice in  the  Senate,  i.e.,  he  has  held  the  highest  juridical  appoint- 
ment in  Finland.  He  is  also  one  of  the  most  universally  re- 
spected members  of  the  legislature,  his  opinion  carrying  great 
weight  there.  P.  Svinhufvud  was  the  Speaker  of  the  Diet  from 
the  first  session  of  the  Single  Chamber  in  1907  until  1912.  Pro- 
fessor Eosenqvist  is  Professor  of  Theology  at  the  University  and 
a  member  of  the  Diet,  while  Dr.  Axel  Lille  was  a  member  of 
the  old  Diet  (the  Four  Estates),  and  is  editor  of  the  Nya 
Pressen. 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  259 

Rosenqvist  writes:  **As  regards  women's  work  in 
the  Diet,  it  probably  bears  comparison  with  the 
average  among  the  men.  It  is  true  that  no  leading 
personalities  have  emerged  from  the  ranks  of  the 
women  representatives — they  will  perhaps  always 
have  to  be  looked  for  among  the  men — ^but  there 
are,  and  doubtless  will  always  be,  among  the  women 
in  the  Diet,  competent,  hard-working,  conscientious 
and  enlightened  women  representatives.  If  weaker 
elements  can  be  pointed  out  among  them,  the  same 
are  not  lacking  among  the  male  representatives 
also." 

Senator  Mechelin  wrote :  *  *  The  women  who  have 
been  elected  to  committees  have  performed  their 
duties  satisfactorily.  This  has  been  especially  the 
case  with  the  Finance,  Social  and  Cultural  Com- 
mittees. At  the  Diet  debates  not  all  the  women  mem- 
bers have  spoken — the  same  thing  is  true  of  the 
men — but  in  practical  knowledge  and  oratorical 
ability  their  speeches  have  usually  been  as  good  as 
the  men's.'' 

With  regard  to  the  personal  relations  of  the  men 
and  women  members,  these,  said  Mechelin,  **may  be 
briefly  characterized  as  a  good  comradeship,"  while 
Th.  Rein  writes  that  '^the  co-operation  of  men  and 
women  has,  so  far  as  I  know,  been  in  every  way  a 
friendly  one  and  marked  by  mutual  respect."  This 
testimony  coincides  with  that  given  elsewhere  by 
Miss  Vera  Hjelt,  one  of  the  women  representatives, 
who  writes:  '^We  could  turn  to  the  men  as  to  com- 
rades and  friends  when  we  desired  to  be  initiated 
into  any  branch  of  the  complicated  machinery  of 


260  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

State.  The  tone  of  goodwill,  sincerity,  refinement 
and  encouragement  that  we  met  with  in  our  partici- 
pation in  the  life  of  the  party  to  which  I  belong  has 
confirmed  my  belief  that  it  is  by  way  of  co-operation, 
and  not  of  suspicion  or  separation,  that  the  influ- 
ence and  work  of  women  can  be  of  importance  in 
legislation.  Also  in  committee  work,  shared  with 
men  of  different  parties,  equality  has  prevailed. 
Women  have  had  no  reason  to  feel  themselves  re- 
pulsed or  in  any  way  treated  inconsiderately.'' 

With  regard  to  the  work  of  the  women  M.P.'s  in 
general,  Baron  Wrede  holds :  **  As  regards  the  share 
taken  in  the  Diet's  work  by  the  women  representa- 
tives, they  have,  as  far  as  I  know,  neither  in  the 
question  of  political  petitions  and  addresses  nor  in 
that  of  the  Budget,  contributed  in  any  way  worth 
mentioning  to  the  solution  of  these  problems.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  sphere  of  legislation  proper 
they  have  made  notable  contributions,  both  by  their 
own  initiative  and  by  their  participation  in  commit- 
tee work  and  in  parliamentary  debates.  To  what 
extent  such  contributions  would  or  would  not  have 
been  made  by  men,  if  there  had  been  no  women  rep- 
resentatives, remains  an  open  question.  Neverthe- 
less, it  seems  as  if  certain  questions  or  groups  of 
questions,  especially  social  ones,  are  taken  up  with 
warmer  interest  by  the  women  than  by  the  men. 
That  the  former  have  not  mastered  the  technique  of 
legislation  is  a  natural  consequence  of  their  lack  of 
juridical  knowledge,  and  is  true  also  of  the  majority 
of  men." 

As    regards   the   work    specially   furthered   by 


THE  EIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  261 

women,  Senator  Mechelin  wrote  that  *^many  of  the 
questions  brought  up  by  them  had  not  received 
proper  attention  from  the  men.  Among  the  ques- 
tions of  reform  which  have  been  taken  up  by  the 
Diet  on  the  initiative  of  women  members,  the  fol- 
lowing may  be  mentioned:  the  property  rights  of 
women,  the  raising  of  the  marriage  age  for  women 
from  fifteen  to  seventeen,  the  improvement  of  the 
legal  position  of  illegitimate  children,  the  establish- 
ment of  maternity  insurance  for  very  poor  women, 
the  appointment  of  female  sanitary  inspectors,  the 
setting  aside  of  funds  for  the  promotion  of  public 
morality,  the  extension  of  the  right  of  women  to  hold 
public  offices.  The  above  examples  show  that  our 
women  representatives  have  specially  concerned 
themselves  with  those  spheres  in  which  women  usu- 
ally have  a  closer  insight  into  existing  evils  than 
men.  This  is  not  feminism,  for  the  measures  pro- 
posed are  all  of  a  universally  useful  nature. ' ' 

Theodore  Rein  gives  a  longer  list  of  the  motions 
and  petitions  in  which  women  have  wholly  or  partly 
taken  the  initiative,  including,  in  addition  to  those 
already  cited,  such  matters  as  the  abolition  of  the 
husband's  guardianship  of  his  wife,  the  rights  of 
women  to  their  children,  the  establishment  of  a  home 
for  unprotected  children  and  their  mothers,  practical 
training  in  housekeeping,  alterations  in  the  prison 
administration,  temperance  legislation,  compulsory 
schooling,  the  construction  of  new  railways,  the  im- 
provement of  the  legal  position  of  the  Jews,  etc. 
'^Many  of  these  propositions  have,"  he  goes  on  to 
say,  ^'been  accepted  by  the  Diet.    The  fact  that  only 


262  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

in  a  very  few  cases  they  have  resulted  in  the  passing 
of  new  laws  and  ordinances  is  due,  not  to  the  Diet, 
but  to  the  Government's  (i.e.,  the  Eussian)  policy 
of  obstructing  ameliorative  social  legislation." 

Finally,  as  regards  the  alleged  general  discontent 
with  woman's  suffrage  and  its  bad  effect  on  home 
life,  there  is  an  absolute  consensus  of  denial.  P. 
Svinhufvud  writes  briefly:  ** Neither  have  I  heard 
in  Finland  the  expression  of  any  dissatisfaction  over 
woman's  suffrage,  nor  are  there,  in  my  opinion,  any 
well-founded  reasons  to  be  advanced  against  it"; 
while  Dr.  Axel  Lille  says :  ^  *  The  granting  of  wom- 
an's  suffrage  was  an  act  of  justice  and  wisdom. 
There  is  in  this  country  hardly  any  politically 
mature  man,  with  a  feeling  of  responsibility,  who  at 
this  moment  would  wish  the  reform  had  never  been 
made,  and  quite  certainly  none  who  would  wish  to 
take  away  from  woman  the  franchise  she  has  already 
received. ' ' 

Senator  Mechelin  wrote  that  ^Hhe  granting  of 
woman's  suffrage  has  not  in  any  way  had  a  bad 
effect  on  family  and  social  life,  but  just  the  reverse. 
It  lies  in  the  nature  of  things  that  equality  of  rights 
has  a  healthy  and  ennobling  influence  on  the  way 
human  beings  treat  one  another.  And  that  woman's 
exercise  of  the  political  franchise  is  calculated  to 
have  a  disturbing  effect  on  family  life  and  house- 
hold duties  is  nothing  but  a  fancy  of  weak  men  who 
fear  that  their  traditional  authority  will  be  lessened 
by  such  a  reform." 

Although  the  quotation  is  a  long  one,  I  shall  con- 
clude with  some  remarks  on  this  subject  by  Theodore 


THE  EIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  263 

Rein,  which  sum  up  the  situation  very  fairly :  *  *  My 
own  opinion,  which  I  believe  coincides  with  that 
generally  held  in  this  country,  is  that  the  reform 
which  gave  the  franchise  to  adult  persons  of  both 
sexes,  and  made  them  eligible  for  election  to  Parlia- 
ment, has  not  had  any  harmful  consequences,  even 
if  the  positive  gain  has  not  been  so  great  as  had  been 
hoped — this  being  due  to  the  general  political  situa-. 
tion,  which  has  prevented  the  Diet 's  legislative  work 
from  bearing  the  fruit  it  ought  to  and  could  have 
borne.  The  fear  not  seldom  expressed,  that 
woman's  right  to  partake  in  political  life  would 
estrange  her  from  and  make  her  indifferent  to  her 
chief  duty,  that  of  caring  for  the  home  and  the  grow- 
ing generation,  has  not  in  any  way  been  confirmed 
here.  As  a  matter  of  act,  it  is  only  an  exteremely 
small  proportion  of  the  women  who  devote  any  con- 
siderable part  of  their  time  to  political  work  proper, 
and  of  these  it  is  only  a  minority  who  have  families 
to  look  after.  The  incomparably  greater  num- 
ber of  women  share  in  political  life  only  in  so  far  as 
once  in  every  three  years — or  sometimes,  if  the  Diet 
is  dissolved,  with  a  shorter  interval — ^they  take  part 
in  the  elections.  Naturally  this  cannot  take  up  any 
one's  time  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  her  from 
fulfilling  her  duties  to  home  and  family.  Nor  need 
participation  in  the  elections  make  women  indiffer- 
ent to  their  private  obligations.  The  fact  that,  in 
consequence  of  their  enfranchisement,  they  begin  to 
interest  themselves  in  its  implications,  and  try  to 
get  the  information  they  need  for  the  exercise  of 
their  right,  cannot  be  regarded  as  haraiful.   .    .    . 


264  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Women  who  have  families  to  care  for  will  then,  more 
than  they  would  otherwise,  implant  in  the  rising 
generation  love  of  the  nation  and  the  fatherland, 
and  the  desire  to  promote  their  welfare.  And  even 
the  relationship  between  man  and  wife  ought  in  gen- 
eral to  gain  from  the  widening  of  the  circle  of  inter- 
ests which  are  common  to  both  and  whose  impor- 
tance both  fully  recognize. ' ' 

Although  the  principle  of  equal  rights  for  men  and 
women  is  recognized  in  the  political  su:ffrage,  it  has 
by  no  means  been  extended  to  all  spheres  of  women's 
activity.  Thus,  it  is  a  little  surprising  to  find  that 
Finnish  women,  while  eligible  for  election  to  the 
Diet,  are  generally  not  eligible  for  election  to  mu- 
nicipal bodies,  service  on  which  would  constitute  an 
excellent  preparation  for  parliamentary  work,  and 
that  married  women  cannot  even  vote  in  the  munici- 
pal elections.  These  facts  are  sometimes  quoted  by 
foreign  opponents  of  women's  suffrage  as  an  argu- 
ment against  it.  The  Finns,  it  is  said,  are  so  dis- 
gusted with  the  effects  of  woman's  influence  in  poli- 
tics that  they  refuse  to  have  it  extended  to  the  sphere 
of  local  government.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
the  Diet  passed  a  new  communal  Bill  in  1909,  giving 
women  full  equality  with  men,  but  the  Emperor  has 
not  sanctioned  the  Bill. 

Another  important  disqualification  under  which 
women  still  labour  is  that  certain  branches  of  the 
public  service  are,  according  to  the  letter  of  the  law, 
confined  to  men.  The  law  can  in  certain  cases  be 
circumvented,  women  getting  a  special  exemption 
from  their  sex  disabilities.    Most  women,  however, 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  265 

prefer  to  enter  professions  where  the  bar  of  sex  has 
not  to  be  removed  for  them.  They  can  only  be  freed 
from  this  disqualification  by  a  change  in  the  funda- 
mental laws. 

"With  regard  to  property  rights,  the  unmarried 
woman  is  rather  favourably  situated;  she  comes  of 
age,  like  a  man,  at  twenty-one,  and  then  has  abso- 
lutely the  same  property  rights  as  a  man,  including 
those  of  inheritance.  So  also  have  widows,  even  if 
they  have  not  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one.  The 
position  of  married  women,  however,  is  considered 
less  satisfactory.  The  law^  unites,  and  has  since 
time  immemorial  united,  the  real  estate  in  the  coun- 
try acquired  during  marriage  and  iihe  chattels,  or 
personal  property,  of  husband  and  wife,  in  which  is 
included,  also,  real  estate  in  towns,  in  a  communaute 
like  that  of  the  French  Code  Civile,  and  it  is,  at  the 
end  of  the  marriage,  equally  divided  between  hus- 
band and  wife  (or  heirs),  if  not  otherwise  agreed 
by  a  pre-nuptial  settlement.  Separate  property  is 
the  real  estate  in  the  country  which  husband  or  wife 
owns  at  the  time  of  marriage  or  inherits  during  mar- 
riage. But,  by  a  pre-nuptial  settlement,  everything 
which  husband  or  wife  owns  at  the  time  of  marriage 
may  be  made  his  or  her  separate  property,  and  by 
a  will  or  a  gift  the  property  conveyed,  be  it  real  or 
chattels,  can  also  be  made  separate.  By  will,  hus- 
band and  wife  can  dispose  of  their  property  to  each 
other  or  third  persons,  according  to  the  common 

iFor  marriages  since  1890,  the  Act  of  April  15,  1889;  for 
marriages  between  1890  and  1879,  Act  of  June  27, 1878;  for  still 
earlier  marriages,  the  Swedish  law-book  of  1734. 


266  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

rules  of  the  liberty  of  testament.  The  right  and 
duty  of  administration  generally  belongs  to  the  hus- 
band. But  newer  legislation  (Act  of  April  15, 1889) 
has,  under  the  influence  of  the  English  Married 
Women's  Property  Acts,  given  the  married  woman 
the  control  of  her  own  earnings,  which,  like  the  earn- 
ings of  her  husband,  are  common  property  and  can- 
not, even  by  a  pre-nuptial  settlement,  be  made  sepa- 
rate. Her  husband  cannot  prevent  her  from  work- 
ing outside  her  home,  if  she  so  desires.  On  the 
other  hand,  she  generally  may  not  run  a  business 
without  his  consent.  She  has  no  control  whatever 
over  her  own  separate  property  unless  this  has  been 
specially  provided  for  in  a  pre-nuptial  settlement; 
but  her  real  property  he  may  not  alienate.  By  mis- 
use of  administration  he  makes  himself  liable  to  a 
judicial  separation.  A  married  woman  is  thus  prac- 
tically under  her  husband's  guardianship.  She  is 
represented  by  him  in  judicial  matters,  but  not  in 
criminal  matters  nor  in  those  concerning  property 
which  she  controls.^  It  is  probable,  however,  that, 
when  the  political  situation  becomes  normal  again, 
a  comprehensive  measure  will  be  passed  removing 
all  the  disabilities  of  married  women;  a  draft  Bill 
has  already  been  produced  by  the  Government  stand- 
ing legal-reform  committee. 

The  divorce  laws  are  rather  favourable  to  women. 
By  divorce  a  marriage  ceases  to  exist  altogether, 
and  the  wife's  legal  situation  bcomes  like  that  of  a 
widow.     When  divorce  results  from  adultery,  the 

^  The  income  of  the  wife's  separate  property  of  which  she  has 
the  administration  is  common  property,  but  under  her  control. 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  267 

guilty  party  loses  one  half  of  his  or  her  share  in  the 
common  property.  The  innocent  party  may  re- 
marry, but  the  guilty  party  may  never  marry  the 
co-respondent,  nor  any  one  else  as  long  as  the  inno- 
cent party  remains  unmarried,  unless  the  innocent 
party  and  the  Government  give  their  consent.  The 
husband  and  wife  may  agree  as  to  who  is  to  have  the 
children  and  be  their  guardian ;  the  other  has  to  pay 
half  the  cost  of  their  education  and  up-bringing. 
The  only  other  legal  ground  for  divorce  is  desertion, 
i.e.,  when  husband  or  wife  leaves  home  and  goes  out 
of  Finland,  with  the  intention  of  not  returning  and 
living  with  the  other.  At  the  request  of  the  one 
remaining  at  home,  the  court  of  justice  asks  the 
other  to  return  within  one  year,  and  if  the  request  is 
not  complied  with,  the  divorce  is  granted.  In  prac- 
tice, divorce  can  be  obtained  still  more  easily,  but 
this  is  not  approved  of.  The  guilty  party  loses  his 
or  her  share  in  the  common  property,  which  goes  to 
the  children,  if  any,  otherwise  to  the  innocent  party. 
This  form  of  divorce  is  designed  for  cases  of  incom- 
patibility, which  is  the  commonest  ground  of  divorce. 

By  special  license  the  Senate  also  affords  divorce 
in  grave  cases,  such  as  hopeless  mental  disease  in 
wife  or  husband. 

The  Diet  has  recently  given  its  assent  to  two  very 
interesting  Bills  concerning  illegitimate  children. 
Although  the  Bills  have  not  yet  received  the  Em- 
peror's sanction,  it  is  worth  while  describing  their 
contents.  The  first  has  to  do  with  the  general  posi- 
tion of  illegitimate  children.  Guardians  are  to  be 
appointed  in  each  commune  who  will  look  after  them 


268  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

if  the  mother  is  thought  to  be  unfit  to  do  so.  The 
father  is  compelled  to  help  the  mother  to  support  the 
child  until  it  is  sixteen,  and  in  certain  cases  even 
longer.  The  amount  of  money  demanded  for  the 
child  is  to  depend  on  the  position  of  both  parents — ^it 
is  payable  in  advance  at  fixed  intervals.  The  guard- 
ian has  to  bring  about  an  agreement  between  the 
father  and  mother  as  to  the  sum  required,  and  to  see 
that  it  is  not  too  low.  The  father  has  to  support  the 
mother  entirely  for  two  months  before  and  after 
her  delivery,  and,  if  she  keeps  the  child,  for  six 
months  after  its  birth.  If  doubt  exists  as  to  the 
child's  father,  more  persons  than  one  are  liable  to 
be  called  upon  to  contribute  to  its  support. 

The  second  Bill  is  still  more  far-reaching.  It 
provides  that  as  soon  as  fatherhood  has  been  either 
admitted  or  proved,  the  illegitimate  child  is  entitled 
to  absolutely  the  same  rights  of  inheritance  as  chil- 
dren born  in  wedlock  and  to  the  use  of  its  father's 
name.^ 

In  spite  of  the  important  share  they  take  in  indus- 
try, women  have  not  organized  themselves  very 
much  except  in  certain  trades.  In  many  cases  they 
belong  to  the  men's  unions,  which  are  on  a  firmer 
foundation  than  their  own.  The  feeling  of  resent- 
ment amongst  the  men  at  female  competition  is  not 

1  The  present  law  as  regards  illegitimate  children  is  as  follows : 
The  illegitimate  child  is  supported  by  father  and  mother,  and 
inherits  both  parents  when  the  mother  has  been  at  the  concep- 
tion bona  fide,  i.e.,  has  believed  herself  in  legal  wedlock  with  the 
father  or  has  at  least  had  his  promise;  so  also  when  he  has 
married  her  afterwards  or  only  given  her  his  promise  and  death 
has  come  between.  The  illegitimate  child  is  generally  educated 
by  its  mother,  the  father  paying  his  half  of  the  cost. 


THE  EIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  269 

stronger  in  Finland  than  in  other  countries.  Men 
continue  to  receive  higher  pay  than  women  for  the 
same  work  in  nearly  all  branches  of  industry  except 
the  printing  trade,  where  an  agreement  between  em- 
ployers and  workers  has  established  the  principle 
of  equal  pay  for  equal  work.  There  are  also  sepa- 
rate firms  which  apply  the  same  principle,  but  these 
are  exceptional. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  women  have  not 
favoured  special  protective  legislation  for  their  sex 
in  factories,  unless  such  legislation  is  to  apply  to 
men  as  well.  Not  long  ago  the  question  of  night- 
work  in  factories  arose,  and  it  was  proposed  to  make 
it  illegal  for  women,  but  the  majority  of  women 
workers  were  against  the  proposal,  because  they 
questioned  whether  it  really  would  protect  them,  and 
if  it  would  not  rather  drive  them  out  of  the  better 
organized  and  better  paid  factories  into  the  ill  paid 
and  casual  home-work.  They  preferred  night-work 
with  good  wages  to  the  prohibition  of  night-work 
with  bad  wages,  and  have  only  approved  of  its  inter- 
diction when,  as  in  the  Bakeries  law,  the  embargo 
is  laid  on  both  sexes  alike. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  principle 
of  equal  pay  for  equal  work  is  applied  to  the  salaries 
of  elementary  school  teachers,  and  the  Diet  in  1913 
pronounced  in  favour  of  the  principle  in  the  case  of 
women  in  the  State  service.  A  committee  of  the 
Senate  had  desired  to  pay  the  women  less  than  the 
men,  but  the  Diet  declared  its  disapproval  of  the 
suggestion  in  the  following  important  pronounce- 
ment :  /*In  the  opinion  of  the  Diet  there  is  no  reason 


270  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

to  apply  to  women  in  the  State  service  a  procedure 
departing  from  existing  regulations  and  from  the 
general  principle  obtaining  in  those  regulations,  that 
salaries  are  determined  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  work  done  without  reference  to  the  person  hold- 
ing the  office.''  Only  by  the  establishment  of  this 
principle  throughout  industry  will  men  cease  to  suf- 
fer from  loss  of  work  or  lowered  wages  due  to 
female  competition. 

To  illustrate  the  excellent  practical  work  which 
women  are  doing  in  Finland,  one  cannot  do  better 
than  give  a  brief  sketch  of  one  of  the  numerous 
societies  founded  and  organized  by  them.  A  good 
instance  is  the  Martha  Society.  This  was  founded 
in  1899,  the  year  of  the  February  Manifesto,  and  its 
foundation  was  doubtless  precipitated  by  the  desire 
to  counteract  russianizing  influences  by  stimulating 
the  interest  of  the  peasants  in  their  own  country  and 
homes.  It  is  entirely  a  woman's  society,  and  its 
members  are  drawn  from  all  classes  without  distinc- 
tion. The  objects  of  ** Martha"  are  to  work  for  im- 
proved housekeeping,  a  better  bringing  up  of  chil- 
dren, the  spread  of  handicrafts  and  the  teaching  of 
gardening.  It  has,  moreover,  such  moral  objects  as 
the  encouragement  of  temperance  and  pure  living. 
Its  promoters  began  wisely  by  calling  meetings  at 
different  places  and  electing  local  committees.  They 
did  not  make  the  mistake  of  trying  to  manage  the 
movement  altogether  from  Helsingfors,  but  allowed 
the  local  bodies  as  much  freedom  as  possible. 
Women  lecturers  travelled  over  the  country  making 
propaganda  for  the  society.    They  visited  the  homes 


i 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  271 

of  the  peasants,  talked  with  the  women,  sought  to 
win  their  confidence  and  excite  their  interest.  On 
the  whole  they  were  very  well  received,  though  some- 
times their  visits  were  at  first  regarded  with  sus- 
picion. Sewing-parties  were  one  of  the  earliest 
forms  of  the  society's  activity.  Expert  instruction 
in  the  cutting  out  of  clothes  was  given  and  the  meet- 
ings were  frequently  enlivened  by  lectures,  discus- 
sions, reading  aloud  and  singing.  Many  branches 
arranged  for  lectures  independently  of  sewing- 
parties,  preference  being  given  to  such  subjects  as 
woman's  work  in  the  home,  the  care  of  children, 
temperance,  cleanliness,  the  duties  of  women  to  so- 
ciety, gardening  and  poultry-keeping.  As  far  as 
possible  practical  instruction  is  given  in  the  two 
latter  activities,  which  have  hitherto  been  much 
neglected  in  Finland.  The  society  employs  a  large 
number  of  women  gardeners,  who  travel  round  the 
country  in  the  spring  and  summer,  giving  advice  and 
help  to  members.  In  many  places  co-operative  pur- 
chase of  seeds  is  customary.  Prizes  are  offered  for 
the  best-kept  garden.  Poultry-keeping  is  also  mak- 
ing rapid  progress,  though  the  society  only  under- 
took it  quite  recently.  Already  a  co-operative  sale 
of  eggs  has  been  established  and  the  society  has  its 
agent  in  Helsingfors.  Courses  in  cookery  have  be- 
come very  popular,  and  will  help  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  Finnish  cookery,  which  at  present  leaves 
something  to  be  desired.  One  of  the  most  valuable 
sides  of  the  society's  work  is  the  encouragement  of 
women's  arts  and  crafts.  Courses  in  weaving  are 
numerous,  curtains,  handkerchiefs,  blouses  and  dif- 


272  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

ferent  clothes  being  manufactured.  With  these 
is  also  combined  instruction  in  the  use  of  vegetable 
dyes.  The  revival  of  this  old  art  is  a  matter  of 
congratulation.  **What  calm  and  strong  delight  of 
colour  the  good  old  fabrics  have,"  writes  a  member 
of  the  society.  *  ^  They  tell  us  of  field  and  forest,  of 
flowery  meadows  and  green  foliage,  and  first  and 
last,  of  women's  happy  work  in  weaving  beautiful 
objects  for  their  homes." 

The  society  has  also  a  publication  department 
and  issues  numerous  tracts  and  pamphlets  in  addi- 
tion to  its  own  journal.  It  arranges  exhibitions  and 
excursions  and  has  Martha  Days,  to  which  all  who 
can  make  a  point  of  coming.  And  all  this  admirable 
work  is  done  not  by  rich  people  with  an  excess  of 
money,  but  in  the  face  of  perpetual  financial  difficul- 
ties and  the  hampering  of  progress  owing  to  meagre 
funds.  Moreover,  the  entire  society  is  managed,  as 
it  was  originated,  by  women.^ 

^  The  following  details,  kindly  supplied  by  the  society,  may 
possibly  prove  of  interest.  The  membership  in  1912  was  about 
11,000,  the  members  being  divided  among  the  164  branches  of 
the  society.  Each  branch  usually  consists  of  a  commune,  i.e.,  a 
town  or  parish.  But  there  are  some  branches  including  two  or 
three  communes,  and  certain  communes  contain  more  than  one 
branch.  The  largest  country  branch  contains  474  members,  em- 
bracing a  small  town  and  sixteen  neighbouring  villages.  During 
1912  73  branches  had  cookery  courses,  which  were  visited  by 
3,125  women;  21  had  weaving  courses,  with  an  attendance  of 
456;  96  had  regular  sewing-parties,  at  which  the  attendance 
varied  from  10  to  50.  Between  60  and  70  women  gardeners 
travelled  round  the  country  and  gave  instruction  and  help  to 
about  4,000  homes.  Forty-three  branches  received  instruction 
in  poultry-keeping.  Besides  the  ordinary  meetings  of  the  differ- 
ent branches,  335  large  extra  meetings  were  held  and  500  lec- 
tures were  delivered. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  POSITION  OF  FINLAND  IN  THE  KUSSIAN  EMPIEE 

AS  has  already  been  pointed  out,  it  was  in  con- 
sequence of  the  war  of  1808-9  that  Finland 
passed  from  Sweden  to  the  Eussian  Empire,  and 
this  war  was  only  the  culmination  of  a  struggle  for 
supremacy  which  had  been  carried  on  for  centuries. 
From  the  time  when  Peter  the  Great  founded  his 
capital  at  Petersburg,  the  ultimate  control  of  the 
Gulf  of  Finland  by  Eussia  became  a  foregone  con- 
clusion, and  the  Eussian  monarchs  clearly  recognized 
the  necessity  of  breaking  down  Sweden's  power 
there.  As  early  as  1742  we  find  the  Empress  Eliza- 
beth, while  at  war  with  Sweden,  issuing  a  manifesto 
to  the  Finns  in  which  she  offers  to  liberate  them 
from  the  rule  of  Sweden  and  to  make  Finland  an 
independent  State.  The  Empress  Catherine  enter- 
tained a  similar  idea.  In  1788  she  urged  the  Finns, 
if  they  really  desired  peace,  *Ho  prevail  upon  the 
Swedish  army  to  leave  Finland."  They  were  to 
**  summon  their  own  Diet,  declare  themselves  inde- 
pendent, frame  laws.  .  .  .,"  and  Her  Majesty  would 
**  solemnly  and  for  ever  confirm  all  their  resolu- 
tions'' and,  if  necessary,  protect  them  from  the 

273 


274  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Swedish  king  by  force  of  arms.  In  1808,  when  the 
Eussian  general  Buxhoevden  crossed  the  Finnish 
frontier  before  the  declaration  of  war,  he  issi^ed  a 
manifesto  on  behalf  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  I 
desiring  the  Finns  not  to  resist  his  advance,  because 
the  Eussians  came  as  ^^friends  and  protectors." 
During  the  long  struggle  that  followed  two  opinions 
were  current  in  Eussia  with  regard  to  Finland ^s  fu- 
ture. One  party  desired  annexation  and  the  treat- 
ment of  Finland  as  a  province  of  the  Empire;  the 
other  party  advised  the  Emperor  to  guarantee  to 
the  people  the  constitutional  rights  they  already  en- 
joyed. The  long  and  stubborn .  resistance  of  the 
Finns,  combined  with  his  anxiety  to  free  the  Eus- 
sian army  for  duties  elsewhere,  induced  Alexander 
I  to  adopt  the  latter  policy,  and,  at  his  request,  a 
deputation  representing  the  nobles,  burghers,  peas- 
ants and  clergy  of  Finland  met  at  Petersburg  on 
November  12,  1808,  while,  though  Finland  had  prac- 
tically been  abandoned,  the  war  was  still  in  progress, 
to  discuss  with  him  what  could  be  done  for  Finland. 
The  deputies  asked  that  a  Diet  should  be  summoned, 
representing  the  Four  Estates  of  Finland,  and  on 
January  20,  1809,  the  Emperor  convoked  the 
famous  Diet  of  Borga.  General  Buxhoevden  was 
recalled  as  a  sign  that  hostile  relations  no  longer 
existed  between  Finland  and  Eussia,  and  a  civil 
Governor  of  Finland,  Sprengporten,  was  appointed 
in  his  stead. 

A  word  of  explanation  as  to  Finland's  separation 
from  Sweden  is  desirable.  The  alternatives  before 
her  were  to  resist  to  the  end  without  regular  troops 


FINLAND  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE  275 

and  then  surrender  unconditionally,  or  to  accept  the 
exceedingly  liberal  terms  proposed  by  Alexander  I, 
which  included  the  most  important  thing  of  all, 
namely,  the  maintenance  of  the  Swedish  Constitu- 
tion as  the  Constitution  of  Finland.  As  it  became 
evident  that  Sweden  neither  could  nor  would  do 
anything  more  for  Finland,  public  opinion  tended 
more  and  more  to  welcome  the  latter  alternative. 
Sweden  had  left  the  Finns  to  take  care  of  themselves 
and  they  did  so.  The  deposition  of  the  Swedish 
king,  Gustavus  IV,  by  his  own  subjects,  which  oc- 
curred about  a  fortnight  before  the  Diet  of  Borga, 
removed  all  qualms  of  conscience  from  the  minds  of 
waverers.  By  the  treaty  of  peace  of  Fredrikshamn, 
Sweden  ratified  the  new  order  of  things.  The  ar- 
rangement suited  Alexander  I  as  well  as  it  suited 
Finland.  The  Emperor  required  a  buffer  State 
between  Petersburg  and  the  kingdom  of  Sweden.  It 
was  also  desirable,  in  view  of  the  proximity  of  the 
Finnish  frontier  to  his  capital,  that  he  should  have 
military  control  over  that  buffer  State.  He  further 
desired,  as  part  of  the  same  policy,  the  control  of 
its  foreign  policy.  But  otherwise,  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned,  Finland  might  be  free  and  autonomous. 
Indeed,  it  was  better  so,  for  the  Finns,  whose  fight- 
ing qualities  he  was  only  too  well  aware  of,  would 
then  be  contented,  and  unlikely,  in  the  event  of  a  new 
war  with  Sweden,  to  make  difficulties  for  Russia 
by  revolting  in  favour  of  the  Swedes. 

The  position  of  Finland  in  the  Russian  Empire 
was  determined  by  the  proceedings  at  Borga  and 
the  Treaty  of  Fredrikshamn.     The  former  were 


276  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

marked  by  great  solemnity.  On  March  15/27,  1809, 
Alexander  I  reached  Borga  and  on  the  same  evening 
signed  the  so-called  Act  of  Assurance.  On  March 
17/29  the  Finnish  Estates  met  the  Tsar  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Borga  to  receive  his  pledge  and  subse- 
quently do  homage  to  him.  The  Act  of  Assurance 
was  read  out  by  the  Governor-General  on  behalf  of 
the  Tsar.    It  runs  as  follows: — 

We,  Alexander  the  First,  by  the  Grace  of  God  Emperor  and 
Autocrat  of  All  the  E-ussias,  etc.,  do  make  known: — 

That  Providence  having  placed  Us  in  possession  of  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Finland,  We  have  desired  hereby  to  confirm  and  j'at- 
ify  the  religion  and  fundamental  Laws  of  the  Land  as  well  as 
the  privileges  and  rights  which  each  class  in  the  said  Grand 
Duchy  in  particular,  and  all  the  inhabitants  in  general,  be  their 
position  high  or  low,  have  hitherto  enjoyed  according  to  the  Con- 
stitution. We  promise  to  maintain  all  these  benefits  and  laws 
firm,  and  unshakeable  in  their  full  force.  In  confirmation 
whereof  we  have  signed  this  Act  of  Assurance  with  Our  own 
hand. 

Given  in  Borga,  March  15/27,  1809. 

Alexander. 

The  Four  Estates  then  took  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
after  which  the  Tsar  spoke  in  French  as  follows : — 

Je  regois  avec  sensibilite  les  serments  de  fidelite  que  les  hab- 
itants de  la  Finlande  viennent  de  me  preter  par  I'organe  de 
leur  representants. 

Les  liens  qui  m'unissent  a  eux,  affermis  par  ce  mouvement 
spontane  de  leur  affection,  consacre  par  cet  acte  solennel,  en 
deviennent  plus  cher  a  mon  coeur,  plus  conf orme  a  mes  principes. 

En  leur  promettant  de  maintenir  leur  religion,  leur  lois  fon- 
damentales,  j'ai  voulu  leur  montrer  le  prix  que  j'attache  aux 
sentiments  de  la  confiance  et  de  Pamour. 

J'implore  PEtre  tout  puissant  de  m'accorder  sa  force  et  sa 
lumiere  pour  gouverner  cette  nation  respectable  d'apres  ses  lois 
et  sa  justice  divine. 


FINLAND  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE  277 

The  Emperor  then  made  a  triumphant  tour  in 
Finland  and  was  everywhere  received  with  the 
greatest  enthusiasm.  Before  leaving  the  country- 
he  issued  at  Borga,  on  March  23/ April  4,  the  fol- 
lowing important  manifesto  in  French,  which  he 
commanded  should  be  translated  into  Finnish  and 
Swedish  and  be  read  aloud,  together  with  the  Act 
of  Assurance,  in  all  the  churches  in  Finland: — 

Nous,  Alexandre  Premier,  Empereur  et  Autocrate  de  toutes 
les  Eussies,  etc.,  Grand  Due  de  Finlande,  etc.:— 

Ayant  reuni  les  etats  de  la  Finlande  en  une  Di^te  generale,  et 
regu  leurs  sermens  de  fidelite,  Nous  avpns  voulu  a  cette  occa- 
sion par  un  acte  solennel,  emane  en  leur  presence  et  proclame 
dans  le  sanctuaire  de  TEtre  Supreme,  confirmer  et  assurer  le 
maintien  de  la  Religion,  des  lois  fondamentales,  les  droits  et 
les  privileges  dont  chaque  etat  en  particulier  et  tous  les  habi- 
tants de  la  Finlande  en  general  ont  joui  jusqu'a  present. 

En  faisant  promulger  cet  acte  par  ces  presentes  Nous  croyons 
devoir  instruire  en  meme  tems  Nos  fideles  sujets  de  Finlande 
qu^en  ous  conformant  a  Fusage  antique  et  venere  de  ce  pays 
Nous  regardons  les  sermens  de  fidelite  pretes  par  les  etats  en 
general  et  par  les  deputes  des  paysans  en  particulier  en  leur 
nom  et  en  celui  de  leurs  commettans,  de  leurs  mouvemens 
propres  et  spontanes,  comme  bons  et  obligatoires  pour  tous  les 
habitans  de  la  Finlande. 

Intimement  persuade  que  ce  peuple  bon  et  loyale  conservera 
a  jamais  pour  Nous  et  pour  Nos  successeurs  les  memes  senti- 
mens  de  fidelite  et  d'attachement  inviolable  qui  Font  toujours 
distingue.  Nous  attacherons  a  lui  donner  avec  Faide  de  Dieu 
de  preuves  continuelles  de  Nos  soins  assidus  et  paternels  pour 
son  bonheur  et  sa  prosperite. 

A  Borga  ce  23  mars,  1809. 

Alexandre. 

These  two  documents  are  the  charter  of  Finland's 
liberties.  The  Treaty  of  Fredrikshamn,  which 
ended  the  war  between  Russia  and  Sweden,  was 
signed  on  September  17  in  the  same  year.     In  it 


278  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Sweden  formally  renounced  all  claims  to  Finland, 
thereby  officially  recognizing  the  change  that  had 
actually  taken  place  several  months  before.  It  is 
urged  by  certain  Eussian  controversialists  that  by 
this  treaty  the  Act  of  Assurance  and  the  manifesto 
of  March  23/ April  4,  1809,  were  cancelled.  This 
is  so  far  from  being  the  case,  however,  that  the 
treaty,  in  one  of  its  clauses,  actually  recognizes 
the  agreement  already  in  existence  between  Alex- 
ander I  and  the  Finns. 

The  clause  quoted  by  Russian  writers  in  support 
of  their  contention  is  No.  4  of  the  treaty.  It  con- 
tains the  following  proviso: — 

These  provinces  [of  Finland],  with  all  their  inhabitants, 
towns,  ports,  forts,  villages  and  islands,  with  all  their  appurte- 
nances, privileges  and  revenues,  shall  hereafter  under  full  own- 
ership and  sovereignty  belong  to  the  Russian  Empire  and  be 
incorporated  with  the  same. 

They  omit,  however,  to  quote  Clause  6  of  the 
same  treaty,  which  runs  as  follows: — 

His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  All  the  Russias  having  already 
given  the  most  manifest  proofs  of  the  clemency  and  justice  with 
which  he  has  resolved  to  govern  the  inhabitants  of  the  provinces 
which  he  has  acquired,  by  generosity  and  by  his  own  spontane- 
ous act  assuring  to  them  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion, 
rights,  property  and  privileges,  His  Swedish  Majesty  considers 
himself  thereby  released  from  performing  the  otherwise  sacred 
duty  of  making  reservations  in  the  above  respects  in  favour  of 
his  former  subjects. 

This  clause  clearly  refers  to  the  proceedings  at 
Borga  and  recognizes  the  validity  of  the  agreement 
then  entered  upon  by  the  Emperor  and  the  people 
of  Finland.    Consequently,  both  the  Diet  of  Borga 


FINLAND  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE     279 

and  the  Treaty  of  Fredrikshamn  have  to  be  taken 
into  account  in  any  definition  of  Finland's  legal 
position.  '  The  former  defines  her  position  with 
regard  to  internal  administration,  the  latter  defines 
it  exclusively  from  the  standpoint  of  international 
law. 

We  must  now  glance  briefly  at  the  manner  in 
which  the  sovereign  power  of  the  Autocrat  of  All 
the  Russias  was  limited  in  his  capacity  of  Grand 
Duke  of  Finland.  What  the  Emperor  did  at  Borga 
was  to  sanction  the  already  existing  Swedish  laws 
in  Finland,  and  in  particular  thie  so-called  **form 
of  government"  of  1772  and  the  Act  of  Union  and 
Security  of  1789.  These  latter  were  to  constitute 
the  Finnish  Constitution,  or  the  ^^fundamental  laws 
of  Finland,"  and  their  essence  was  contained  in 
sections  40  and  41  of  the  '*Form  of  Government," 
which  run  as  follows: — 

The  king  shall  make  no  new  law  nor  abolish  an  old  one  with- 
out the  knowledge  and  consent  of  ther  Estates. 

The  Estates  of  the  Realm  (Riksens  Stander)  shall  abolish 
no  old  law  nor  make  a  new  law  without  the  king's  yea  and 

consent. 

In  other  words,  a  law,  if  it  is  to  be  binding  in 
Finland,  must,  firstly,  be  passed  by  the  Finnish  Diet, 
and  secondly,  be  sanctioned  by  the  Emperor-Grand- 
Duke. 

Other  important  principles  established  by  the 
Constitution  are  the  following: — 

The  country  must  be  governed  wdth  the  assistance 
of  Finnish  authorities  (the  only  exception  being  the 
Governor-General) . 


280  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

The  Constitution  cannot  be  altered  without  the 
consent  of  the  Finnish  Diet.  (This  principle  was  de- 
fined more  clearly  by  the  law  of  the  Diet  of  1869.) 

There  were,  however,  certain  fields  of  legislative 
activity  in  Finland  in  which  the  Emperor  is  at  lib- 
erty to  issue  ordinances  having  the  force  of  law 
without  the  co-operation  of  the  Diet.  This  right 
descended  to  him  in  virtue  of  the  old  constitutional 
practice  in  Sweden,  where,  ever  since  the  thirteenth 
century,  it  had  been  a  recognized  principle  that  the 
king  could  issue  laws  in  certain  minor  matters  by 
way  of  administrative  procedure.  These  matters 
have  never  been  actually  defined  and  are  regulated 
by  precedent.  They  may  be  stated  briefly  as  the 
administration  of  Crown  properties  and  revenue- 
yielding  rights,  the  carrying  on  of  certain  trades, 
general  economy,  the  preservation  of  public  order 
and  the  establishment  of  official  departments.  No 
administrative  ordinance,  however,  may  clash  with 
ordinary  legislation. 

There  are  also  certain  matters  affecting  Finland 
which  fall  within  the  competence  not  of  the  Finnish 
but  of  the  Eussian  State,  such  as  the  laws  of  suc- 
cession to  the  Eussian  throne,  foreign  policy,  the 
position  of  foreign  consuls,  the  Eussian  army  and 
navy  and  Church  and  schools  in  Finland. 

The  above  is  a  brief  statement  of  the  legal  rela- 
tion of  Finland  to  Eussia,  as  it  appears  to  the  Finns. 
It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  render  an  ac- 
count of  the  polemic  that  has  raged  round  the 
subject.  Persans  interested  in  the  juridical  aspect 
of  the  conflict  should  consult  such  books  as  Mr. 


FINLAND  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE    281 

J.  R.  Fisher's  admirably  lucid  ^^ Finland  and  the 
Tsars"  (second  edition,  1901).  By  far  the  most  im- 
portant document  on  the  subject,  however,  is  the 
declaration  made  by  international  lawyers  in  Febru- 
ary, 1910,  after  a  conference  held  in  London.  The 
signatories  represent  the  best  juridical  opinion  of 
Europe,  and  their  verdict  may  fairly  be  regarded  as 
conclusive  so  far  as  the  legal  issue  is  concerned.  The 
statement  is  as  follows : — 

We,  the  following — 

Gerhard  Anschiitz,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Public  Law,  Univer- 
sity of  Berlin;  L.  von  Bar,  LL.D.,  Geheimer  Justiz-Rat,  Pro- 
fessor of  Law,  University  of  Gottingen,  Hon.  Member  and  Past 
President  of  the  Institut  de  Droit  international.  Member  of 
the  Court  of  Arbitration  of  The  Hague ;  A.  de  Lapradelle,  Pro- 
fesseur  agrege  a  la  faeulte  de  droit  de  I'Universite  de  Paris, 
Directeur  de  la  Revue  de  Droit  international  prive,  Co-directeur 
du  Recueil  des  Arbitrages  internationaux,  Associe  de  I'Institut 
de  Droit  international;  Leon  Michoud,  Professeur  de  droit 
public  a  I'Universite  de  Grenoble;  Ernest  l^ys,  Professeur  de 
droit  international  a  I'Universite  de  Bruxelles,  Conseiller  a  la 
Cour  d'Appel  de  Bruxelles  Membre  de  I'Institut  de  Droit  inter- 
national; Sir  Prederick  Pollock,  Bart.,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  late 
Corpus  Professor  of  Jurisprudence,  University  of  Oxford;  W. 
van  der  Vlugt,  Professeur  de  la  philosophic  du  droit  a  I'Uni- 
versite de  Leyde;  J.  Westlake,  K.C.,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  late  Pro- 
fessor of  International  Law,  University  of  Cambridge,  Hon. 
Member  and  Past  President  of  the  Institut  de  Droit  interna- 
tional; C.  V.  ISTyholm,  formerly  a  member  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Denmark — 

Led  by  our  studies  to  an  examination  of  the  relations,  be- 
tween Finland  and  Russia.  .  .  .  Having  welcomed  the  sugges- 
tion made  by  a  group  of  Dutch  jurisconsults  to  meet  in  London, 
in  order  to  examine  the  arguments  adduced  on  both  sides,  and 
to  deliberate  in  common  .  .  .  have  unanimously  agreed  on  the 
following  conclusions : — 

1.  The  rights  of  Finland  in  respect  to  her  Constitution  are 
not  a  figment  of  Finnish  "imagination,"  but  an  historical  real- 


282  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

ity;  they  do  not  form  a  "dogma"  in  which  the  Finlanders  be- 
lieve without  being  able  to  offer  proof,  but  a  juridical  truth 
scientifically  demonstrated. 

2.  It  is  not  only  from  Sweden,  under  the  Treaty  of  Frederik- 
shamn  (Article  lY),  but,  as  was  recognized  by  the  same  docu- 
ment (Article  VI),  before  this  treaty,  from  the  Finlanders 
themselves,  that  Alexander  I,  on  his  solemn  promise  to  them  to 
respect  their  Fundamental  Laws,  took  possession  of  Finland. 

3.  When,  at  the  Diet  of  Borga,  the  Oath  of  the  Four  Estates 
followed  on  the  promises  of  the  Czar,  Finland  "free  as  regards 
her  internal  affairs,"  "from  henceforth  placed  in  the  rank  of 
nations,"  did  not  enter  into  the  Russian  Empire  as  a  conquered 
province,  precariously  endowed  with  temporary  privileges,  but 
as  an  autonomous  organism,  united  by  free  agreement  to  a 
sovereign  State,  which,  on  account  of  this  agreement,  is  obliged 
to  respect  this  autonomy. 

4.  In  whatever  fashion  authors  analyse  and  define  the  tie 
between  Finland  and  Russia,  according  to  their  conception  of  a 
State  and  their  different  modes  of  classifying  institutions  of 
public  law,  they  are,  with  very  few  exceptions,  all  agreed,  Rus- 
sians included,  on  this  point,  that  Finland  has  the  right  to  de- 
mand that  the  Russian  Empire  should  respect  her  Constitution. 

5.  The  introduction  in  Russia  of  a  constitutional  system, 
could  not  modify  the  position  of  Finland.   .    .    . 

6.  Being  unable,  by  direct  means,  to  withdraw  either  from 
the  Diet  or  from  the  Finnish  administrative  organs  all  or  any 
part  of  their  powers,  Russia  cannot  do  so  by  indirect  means 
through  reserving  to  herself  the  right  to  determine  the  scope 
of  this  competence. 

7.  If  the  superior  interests  of  the  Empire  demand  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  common  procedure  for  dealing  with  certain  inter- 
nal affairs,  it  pertains  to  the  Diet  either  itself  to  determine 
those  affairs  or  to  consent  to  the  creation  of  a  body  charged 
with  determining  them. 

Frederick  Pollock. 
J.  Westlake. 
Ernest  Nys. 
A.  de  Lapradelle. 
Gerhard  ANSCHijrz. 
L.  VON  Bar. 

LtON    MiCHOUD. 
W.  VAN  DER  VlUGT. 

C.  V.  Nyholm. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  FIEST  PEBIOD  OF  BUSSIANIZATION 

FINLAND  and  Eussia  are  separated  not  only 
by  such  natural  barriers  as  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land and  Lake  Ladoga,  but  also  by  the  profound 
psychological  gulf  that  lies  between  the  Russians 
and  the  West  European.  Of  this  gulf  the  Russians 
themselves  are  perfectly  conscious.  Prince  Kropot- 
kin  describes  in  his  ^^ Memoirs'*  a  conversation  he 
had  with  TourgueniefP  in  the-  eighteen-seventies. 
**  *You  must  have  had  a  great  deal  of  experience 
in  your  life  among  Frenchmen,  Germans  and  other 
people,'  he  said  to  me  once.  *Have  you  not  remarked 
that  there  is  a  deep,  unfathomable  chasm  between 
many  of  their  conceptions  and  the  views  which  we 
Russians  hold  on  the  same  subjects — points  upon 
which  we  can  never  agree?'  "  Tourguenieff  then 
gave  a  striking  illustration  of  what  he  meant  from 
the  sphere  of  marriage  relationships.  Kropotkin 
admitted  that  amongst  the  middle  classes  the  differ- 
ence between  nation  and  nation  was  immense  in- 
deed, but  contended  that  between  the  workers,  and 
especially  the  peasants,  of  all  nations  there  is  an 
*  immense  resemblance."  *^In  saying  so,  I  was, 
however,  quite  wrong,"  he  continues.  ** After  I  had 
had  the  opportunity  of  making  a  closer  acquaintance 
with  French  workers,  I  often  thought  of  the  right- 
ness  of  Tourguenieff 's  remark." 

The  same  difference  is  implied  in  Tolstoy's  re- 
mark to  Dr.  Sarolea :  *  ^  I  am  glad  you  are  going  to 
make  a  special  study  of  Russia,  but  if  you  want  to 

283 


284  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

understand  us  you  must  grasp  the  principles  of  the 
Slavophils.  * ' 

Now,  the  Finns,  thanks  to  the  Swedish  conquest, 
are  essentially  West  Europeans.  Their  minds  face 
west  and  not  east,  while  the  most  typical  Eussian 
minds  face  east  and  not  west.  Life  in  Finland  has 
a  close  family  resemblance  to  life  in  any  other  West 
European  country.  But  when  one  crosses  the  fron- 
tier of  Russia  one  enters  a  new  world  and  a  new  set 
of  values.  Compare  Petersburg,  by  no  means  the 
most  characteristic  Russian  city,  with  Helsingfors, 
and  the  difference  is  at  once  realized.  Nowhere  does 
it  come  out  more  strongly  than  in  the  churches, 
(where  the  contrast  between  the  gorgeous  Greek 
Orthodox  ritual  of  the  one  and  the  Lutheran  sim- 
plicity of  the  other  is  almost  startling.  The  differ- 
ence of  the  worshippers  is  equally  obvious.  The 
Russian  has  probably  sounded  spiritual  depths  be- 
yond the  ken  of  the  Finn,  but  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand, when  you  see  him  at  worship,  that  he  has 
never  developed  the  particular  qualities  out  of 
which  free  citizens  are  made,  and  that  he  is  an  easy 
prey  of  those  who  wish  to  exploit  him. 

The  difference  of  mentality  between  Russians  and 
Finns  expresses  itself  in  different  kinds  of  law  and 
government.  In  Russia  the  sovereign  is  an  auto- 
crat; in  Finland  he  is  a  constitutional  monarch. 
\  In  Russia  the  word  of  the  sovereign  is  law ;  in  Fin- 
;  land  the  idea  of  law  penetrates  the  whole  of  society, 
just  as  it  does  in  Great  Britain,  and  sovereign 
and  ministers  are  subject  to  it,  no  less  than  the 
poorest  peasant.  In  Finland  law  is  the  product 
of  the  nation ;  in  Russia  it  is  the  creation  of  an  in- 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  285 

dividual  influenced  by  a  bureaucracy.  When  the 
plans  for  a  railway  from  Petersburg  to  Moscow 
were  brought  to  Nicholas  I,  he  drew  a  straight  line 
across  the  map  between  the  two  towns,  saying  that 
that  was  the  route  it  must  follow,  and  thus  it  had  to 
be  built  in  spite  of  the  enormous  difficulties  and 
needless  expense  this  autocratic  command  entailed. 

The  above  distinctions  are  not  drawn  with  the 
intention  of  showing  the  West  Europeans  in  general 
and  the  Finns  in  particular  to  be  superior  to  the 
Russians.  No  one  who  has  had  even  a  superficial 
acquaintance  with  Russian  life  and  character  can 
doubt  that  while  we  of  West  Europe  have  much  to 
give  to  Russia,  we  also  have  much  to  learn  from 
her,  especially  in  the  sphere  of  spiritual  things. 
The  old  contempt  for  everything  Russian  is  out-of- 
date,  and  an  attitude  of  sympathetic  inquiry  is  fast 
replacing  it.  It  is  not  a  question  of  being  better 
or  worse,  but  of  being  different,  and  the  object  of 
the  contrast  we  have  drawn  is  simply  to  show  how 
the  inclusion  of  West  European  Finland  within  the 
Russian  Empire  inevitably  brought  with  it  the  seeds 
of  political  conflict. 

Sometimes,  indeed,  it  seems  surprising  that  the 
trouble  did  not  come  to  a  head  much  earlier  than 
was  actually  the  case.  The  only  guarantee  for  Fin- 
land's Constitution  was  the  sacred  oath  of  the  Tsars, 
and  there  was  a  constant  danger  that  the  autocrat 
might  overpower  the  constitutional  monarch.  Temp- 
tations of  this  nature  sometimes  arose,  as  when,  dur- 
ing the  later  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Russian 
nationalism,  impatient  at  being  bound  by  a  Consti- 
tution in  Finland,  when  everywhere  else  throughout 


286  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  vast  Empire  the  Government  had  a  free  hand, 
hinted  to  the  Tsars  that  their  scruples  with  regard 
to  Finland's  Constitution  were  unreasonable  and 
out-of-date. 

During  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  the  Tsars 
were  true  to  their  oath.  Thus,  when  Count  Stein- 
heil  was  appointed  Governor-General  of  Finland  in 
1810,  Alexander  I  wrote  to  him,  in  the  course  of 
other  instructions:  **My  object  in  organizing  the 
situation  in  Finland  has  been  to  give  to  the  people 
a  political  existence,  so  that  they  shall  not  regard 
themselves  as  subject  to  Eussia,  but  as  attached  to 
her  by  their  own  evident  interests,  and  for  this  rea* 
son  not  only  their  civil  laws,  but  also  their  political 
laws  have  been  retained."  Moreover,  in  1811  the 
Emperor  reincorporated  the  eastern  portions  of 
her  territory,  including  the  town  of  Yiborg,  which 
had  been  ceded  to  Russia  in  1721  and  1743,  and  had 
since  then  been  governed  as  a  Russian  province. 
Thus,  instead  of  levelling  the  rest  of  Finland  down 
to  the  provincial  status  of  Viborg,  he  raised  Viborg 
to  be  a  part  of  autonomous  Finland.  Further,  he 
reintroduced  the  ecclesiastical  and  judicial  authority 
of  Abo  over  Viborg  and  made  arrangements  for  the 
representation  of  Viborg  in  the  Diet.  No  better 
proofs  of  his  intentions  towards  Finland  could  be 
desired.  Towards  the  end  of  his  reign  he  again 
showed  his  respect  for  the  Finnish  Constitution  in 
a  striking  way.  For,  when  Count  Zakrevsky,  the 
fourth  Governor-General,  obtained  the  Emperor's 
consent  to  the  passing  of  certain  ordinances,  with- 
out having  previously  consulted  the  Finnish  authori- 
ties, Alexander  heeded  the  protest  made  by  the 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  287 

Senate  and  directed  the  Court  for  tlie  future  to 
**  present  his  report  through  the  proper  constitu- 
tional channels.'* 

The  Diet  was  not  summoned  a  second  time  by 
Alexander  I,  nor  did  his  successor,  Nicholas  I, 
convoke  it.  This,  as  we  saw,  was  hardly  in  keeping 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  but  it  did  not 
involve  a  formal  violation  of  it,  so  long  as  no  new 
law  was  enacted  or  tax  levied.  For  though  in  the 
Swedish  ^^era  of  freedom''  (1719-72)  the  Estates 
met  regularly  every  three  years,  later  on  it  was 
left  to  the  sovereign  to  convoke  them  when  he 
thought  it  necessary.  Although  no  new  taxes  could 
be  levied,  yet,  seeing  that  the  Crown  had  the  dis- 
posal of  the  ordinary  State  revenues,  such  as  cus- 
toms, the  income  of  crown  properties,  etc.,  it  was 
possible  for  the  sovereign  to  carry  on  the  govern- 
ment without  summoning  the  Estates,  by  acting  in 
conjunction  with  the  central  governing  body  (in 
Sweden  the  Riksrad,  in  Finland  the  Senate).  More- 
over, there  was,  as  we  saw,  the  whole  domain  of 
so-called  administrative  legislation,  where  the  sov- 
ereign can  issue  ordinances  having  the  force  of  law, 
independently  of  the  Diet. 

But  although  the  Tsar's  failure  to  convoke  the 
Diet  was  not  actually  a  breach  of  the  Constitution, 
it  had  a  bad  effect,  and  the  impossibility  of  new 
legislation  acted  as  a  check  to  the  country's  develop- 
ment. It  was  in  every  way  a  great  advantage  to 
Finland  when  Alexander  II  in  1863  returned  to  the 
more  regular  procedure  by  summoning  the  Estates 
and  assuring  them  in  the  speech  from  the  throne 
that  he  intended  to  maintain  *Hhe  principles  of  con- 


288  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

stitutional  monarchy  essentially  involved  in  the 
character  of  the  Finnish  people,  and  of  which  all 
their  laws  and  institutions  bear  the  impress/'  He 
closed  his  speech  with  the  following  striking  pas- 
sage, which  seems  to  indicate  that  he  contemplated 
the  extension  of  constitutional  government  to  other 
parts  of  the  Empire:  ^*It  is  for  you,  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  Grand  Duchy,  to  prove,  by  the  dignity, 
moderation,  and  the  calmness  of  your  discussions, 
that  in  the  hands  of  a  wise  and  well-conducted  peo- 
ple .  .  .  liberal  institutions,  far  from  being  a  dan- 
ger, become  a  guarantee  of  order  and  prosperity.'' 

After  this  the  Diet  was  summoned  fairly  regu- 
larly about  every  four  ye^ixs^  In  1869  the  Diet  was 
recalled  and  tEeFundamental  Laws  were  further 
defined,  it  being  provided  that  a  fundamental  law 
can  be  made,  altered,  interpreted  or  repealed  only 
on  the  representation  of  the  Emperor-Grand-Duke 
and  with  the  consent  of  all  the  Four  Estates. 

It  is  worth  pointing  out  that  in  1860  the  Emperor 
decreed  for  Finland  a  separate  money  system.  The 
unit  was  the  Finnish  mark,  equivalent  to  the  French 
franc  and  to  a  quarter  of  a  Russian  rouble. 

On  several  occasions  Alexander  II  stood  between 
Finland  and  the  bureaucratic  Russian,  Ministers 
who  wished  to  bring  the  country  into  line  with  the 
rest  of  the  Empire.  His  most  important  interven- 
tion concerned  military  matters,  which  is  interest- 
ing, seeing  that  it  was  this  subject  that  eventually 
brought  the  Russo-Finnish  conflict  to  a  head.  In 
1873  Russia  adopted  a  new  scheme  of  army  organi- 
zation, as  a  result  of  the  war  between  France  and 
Germany.    General  Miliutin,  then  Russian  Minister 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  289 

of  War,  wanted  Alexander  II  to  extend  the  scheme 
to  Finland  by  Imperial  Decree.  But  when  it  was 
pointed  out  to  the  Emperor  that  this  would  be  alto- 
gether illegal,  he  ordered  that  the  scheme  should  be 
submitted  to  the  Finnish  Diet  in  the  regular  way. 
The  Diet  recognized  the  necessity  for  creating  a 
more  efficient  force  and  keeping  it  in  close  touch 
with  the  Russian  army,  and  in  1877  adopted  a  Gov- 
ernment Bill  giving  effect  to  these  principles.  At- 
tempts had  been  made  by  General  Miliutin  to  induce 
the  Emperor  to  alter  the  Bill,  but  in  spite  of  the  War 
Office  he  refused  to  do  so,  and  the  law  was  promul- 
gated in  1878  in  the  form  in  which  it  had  left  the 
Diet.  The  most  important  provisions  were  that  all 
Finns  were  to  be  liable  for  military  service;  that 
the  army  should  consist  of  Finnish  citizens  only, 
and  that  its  object  should  be  the  defence  of  Finland. 
The  Governor-General  was  to  be  in  supreme  com- 
mand, a  Finnish  officer  was  to  report  purely  mili- 
tary matters  to  the  Minister  of  War,  who  in  turn 
was  to  report  them  to  the  Emperor,  and  the  military 
department  of  the  Senate  was  to  be  responsible  for 
the  civil  administration,  commissariat,  barracks,  etc. 
To  the  troops  commands  were  to  be  issued,  as  be- 
fore, in  the  Russian  language. 

The  irritation  felt  by  official  Russia,  with  its  ex- 
cessive love  of  uniformity  and  centralization,  at  the 
exception  forced  upon  its  notice  by  the  Finnish 
Constitution  was  not,  however,  the  only  element  of 
danger  to  the  Grand  Duchy.  The  whole  course  of 
Russian  policy  in  her  frontier  provinces  constituted 
a  menace  to  Finland.  The  russianization  of  Poland, 
which  had  long  been  proceeding,  was  carried  out  at 


290  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

redoubled  speed,  and  with  appalling  rigour,  after 
the  unsuccessful  rising  of  1863.  The  Polish  lan- 
guage was  persecuted  and  Eussian  officialdom  ruled 
the  country.  A  similar  fate  befell  the  Lithuanians, 
the  Little  Russians  and  the  inhabitants  of  Caucasia. 
Then  Russia  turned  her  attention  to  the  Baltic  prov- 
inces, on  the  southern  side  of  the  Finnish  Gulf. 
Almost  the  entire  system  of  education  in  those  prov- 
inces was  made  Russian,  the  political  rights  of 
estates,  cities  and  corporations  were  arbitrarily 
withdrawn,  and  the  racial  strife  between  the  Ger- 
man nobility  and  the  Letts  and  Esthonians  was  ex- 
ploited in  such  a  way  as  to  place  the  country  more 
and  more  at  the  mercy  of  the  Russian  bureaucracy. 
How  was  Finland  to  escape  a  similar  fate? 

Further,  a  Nationalist  movement  in  Russia  had 
also  to  be  reckoned  with.  Finland  is  anathema  to 
a  large  body  of  opinion  in  Russia  because  in  virtue 
of  her  Constitution  she  enjoys  a  separate  position. 
This  offence  is  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  Finns 
are  one  of  the  many  non-Russian  nationalities  within 
the  Empire.  Perhaps  the  leading  idea  among  the 
Russian  Nationalists  is  a  chauvinistic  hatred  of  the 
foreigner.  From  this  root  has  sprung  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  Jews,  Poles,  Georgians  and  other  non- 
Russian  nationalities.  The  famous  writer  Katkoif 
had  already  in  the  'sixties  marked  out  Finland  for 
destruction,  and  in  the  early  'eighties  a  vehement 
Press  campaign,  probably  originated  by  Ministers 
who  knew  well  how  to  inflame  the  worst  feelings  of 
the  Nationalists,  began  to  be  directed  against  Fin- 
land. The  argument  ran  that  Finland's  rights  were 
purely  illusory  and  based  on  misrepresentation  and 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  291 

even  forgery;  that  Alexander  I  had  not  understood 
what  he  was  doing,  or  had  not  meant  what  he  had 
said;  and  his  successors  were  urged  in  the  name 
of  Russia's  interests  to  make  an  end  of  Finland's 
special  position  and  extend  to  her  the  principles 
of  autocracy  as  they  existed  in  the  rest  of  the 
Empire. 

The  Russian  articles  and  brochures  were  repeat- 
edly answered  from  Finland,  and  their  arguments 
were  refuted  by  Senator  Mechelin  and  Professors 
Hermanson  and  Danielson,  Nevertheless,  the  Rus- 
sian Government  proceeded  to  commence  the  work 
of  russianization  by  issuing  a  manifesto  on  June  2, 
1890,  by  which  the  Finnish  Post  Office  was  subordi- 
nated to  the  Russian  Ministry,  while  in  December  of 
the  same  year  another  manifesto  suspended  the  ap- 
plication of  the  new  Criminal  Law  recently  adopted 
by  the  Diet  and  sanctioned  by  the  Emperor.  Other 
ordinances  were  issued  the  next  year  tending  in  the 
same  direction. 

The  accession  of  the  young  Tsar  Nicholas  II,  in 
November,  1894,  was  the  signal  for  great  hopes  in 
Finland,  as  well  as  in  Russia.  He,  like  all  his  pre- 
decessors since  Alexander  I,  solemnly  guaranteed 
Finland's  Constitution,  but  that  he  was  no  friend 
to  the  constitutional  idea  early  became  manifest. 
The  dreams  of  constitutional  rule  nourished  by 
Alexander  I  and  Alexander  II  were  entirely  aban- 
doned, and  the  spectacle  of  a  flourishing  constitu- 
tional monarchy  like  Finland,  on  the  borders  of 
Russia  and  actually  within  the  Empire,  must  have 
seemed  not  merely  an  eyesore  to  the  Russian  Court, 
but  ^  positive  danger,  inasmuch  as  it  afforded  to 


292  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

ithe  discontented  masses  in  Russia  a  working  model 
of  democracy  at  their  very  doors.  It  is  hardly  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  the  attack  on  Finland  became 
far  more  vehement  than  ever  before. 

It  was  the  military  question  on  which  Russia  de- 
jtermined  to  fight.  She  decided  upon  the  extension 
lof  the  Russian  military  system  to  Finland.  The 
latter 's  army  consisted  mainly  of  nine  battalions 
of  infantry,  so-called  sharpshooters,  who  served 
three  years,  and  a  reserve  which  met  for  ninety  days 
during  three  successive  summers.  The  troops  were 
drilled  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Russian  army 
and  commanded  in  Russian,  but  the  language  of 
the  military  education  was  Swedish  and  Finnish. 
Russian  investigators  could  find  no  fault  with  the 
Finnish  army,  and  the  Tsar  Alexander  III  had 
officially  declared  that  during  manoeuvres  the  Fin- 
nish troops  had  perfectly  well  collaborated  with  the 
Russian  army. 

The  man  chosen  to  carry  out  the  Russian  Nation- 
alist programme  in  Finland  was  General  Nicolai 
Ivanovitch  Bobrikoff,  who  was  appointed  Governor- 
General  of  Finland  in  August  and  reached  Helsing- 
fors  on  October  12,  1898.  A  few  days  before  his 
appointment  the  Tsar  had  issued  his  famous  Peace 
Manifesto.  Yet  Bokrikoff  was  sent  to  Finland  to 
force  upon  the  people  a  military  system  by  which 
the  army  would  be  quadrupled.  His  first  hectoring 
speech  to  the  Senate  and  provincial  governors  at 
once  showed  what  Finland  had  to  expect,  and  the 
impression  was  confirmed  on  January  24, 1899,  when 
the  Diet  was  opened  and  he  read  out  on  behalf  of 
the  Tsar  the  speech  from  the  throne.   In  it  the  ITinns 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  293 

were  treated  as  a  number  of  Russian  subjects  liv-i 
ing  in  a  number  of  Russian  ** governments/'  and 
the  Diet's  constitutional  right  to  decide  legislative 
matters  was  completely  denied.    Moreover,  the  Mili- 
tary Bill  laid  before  the  Diet  was  extremely  objec- 
tionable, being  the  military  law  of  Russia ;  officers  / 
were  to  be  Russians ;  courts  martial  and  the  military  ( 
criminal  code  were  to  be  Russian ;  the  Finnish  levies , 
were  to  be  sent  to  Russia  and  divided  between  Rus- 
sian regiments  and  fed  by  Russian  authorities. 

While  the  Diet  was  still  discussing  this  Bill,  a 
new  and  crushing  blow  fell  upon  Finland.  On  Feb- 
ruary 15th  General  Bobrikoff  arrived  from  Peters- 
burg with  the  famous  February  Manifesto,  the 
essence  of  which  was  as  follows:  Finland's  Consti- 
tution was  no  longer  to  be  observed  where  Imperial 
interests  were  concerned.  On  such  matters  the  Diet 
might  express  an  opinion  but  not  decide.  It  lay 
exclusively  with  the  monarch  to  determine  what 
matters  should  be  considered  of  Imperial  interest, 
and  consequently  decided  by  him  alone.  The  mani- 
festo thus  struck  a  fatal  blow  at  the  Constitution. 

By  a  majority  of  ten  votes  to  nine  the  Senate,  the 
central  administrative  body  of  Finland,  decided  to 
promulgate  the  manifesto,  and  then  proceeded  to 
send  a  petition  to  the  Tsar.  It  was  not  received, 
and  a  protest  from  the  Diet  met  with  the  same  fate. 
General  Bobrikoff  published  the  following  bluff: 
*^A11  reasonable  people  in  Finland  are  satisfied  with 
the  manifesto. ' '  But  there  were  no  reasonable  peo- 
ple in  the  Governor-General's  sense.  At  a  meeting 
of  citizens  in  Helsingfors  it  was  resolved  to  collect 
signatures  for  a  national  address  to  the  Emperor 


294  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

urging  him  to  revoke  the  manifesto.  Messengers 
were  dispatched  to  spread  the  news  far  and  wide. 
The  result  was  astonishing.  The  signature  of  any- 
adult  man  or  woman  was  accepted,  and  when  on 
March  14th  the  lists  were  counted  in  Helsingfors, 
the  number  of  names  was  found  to  amount  to 
520,931.  To  realize  the  significance  of  these  figures 
it  must  be  remembered  that  all  the  signatures  were 
collected  in  ten  days,  that  the  total  population  of 
Finland  was  only  some  two  and  a  half  millions, 
spread  over  an  enormous  area,  and  that  hundreds 
of  villages  and  islands  could  only  be  reached  by 
sledges  or  by  men  on  skis,  sometimes  at  the  risk  of 
their  lives,  owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  ice  in  the 
spring.  The  immense  collection  of  signatures  can 
be  seen  at  the  State  Archives  in  Helsingfors  and  is 
an  eloquent  testimony  to  the  Finns'  passionate  love 
of  their  country,  which,  moreover,  expressed  itself 
at  this  time  of  national  calamity  by  the  ladies  ap- 
pearing in  the  streets  dressed  in  mourning.  A  great 
deputation,  consisting  of  five  hundred  men,  elected 
by  informal  meetings  in  various  Finnish  communes, 
was  dispatched  to  Petersburg  on  March  15th  to 
present  the  address  to  the  Tsar,  and  in  spite  of  all 
his  secret  police  General  Bobrikoff  knew  nothing 
of  it  until  it  had  already  started.  The  Tsar  refused 
to  grant  an  audience,  saying  through  the  Finnish 
Secretary  of  State:  ** Inform  the  members  of  this 
deputation  of  five  hundred  men  that  I,  of  course, 
will  not  receive  them,  although  I  am  not  vexed  with 
them."    The  russianization  was  to  go  forward. 

Bobrikoff's  central  aim  was  naturally  to  get  the 
administration  of  Finland  entirely  into  his  own 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  295 

hands.  Accordingly,  the  first  step  to  the  russiani- 
zation  of  the  whole  of  the  country  was  to  be  the 
russianization  of  its  officials.  The  rest  would  follow 
naturally,  he  hoped.  The  administration  of  Finland 
being  legally  in  the  hands  of  Finns,  Bobrikoff  had 
an  alternative.  He  could  either  dismiss  the  Fin- 
nish officials  and  replace  them  by  Russians,  or  he 
could  retain  them,  but  try  to  frighten  them  into 
assisting  in  the  work  of  russianization.  The  latter 
course  had  two  advantages.  By  retaining  the  Fin- 
nish officials  he  would  not  be  violating  that  para- 
graph of  the  Constitution  which  requires  that  the 
country  shall  be  administered  by  Finns.  Secondly, 
it  was  much  easier  to  russianize  through  men  who 
knew  the  business  of  administration  and  spoke 
Finnish  and  Swedish  than  through  persons  abso- 
lutely ignorant  of  the  language  and  conditions  of 
the  country.  Accordingly,  he  embraced  the  latter 
policy,  although  not  exclusively.  He  used  the 
weapons  both  of  persuasion  and  of  threat,  saying 
in  effect,  **You  need  not  be  so  excited,  gentlemen; 
we  are  not  going  to  destroy  Finland's  autonomy,  but 
only  to  make  one  or  two  necessary  alterations.  But 
these  little  alterations  we  mean  to  make,  and,  if  you 
resist,  it  will  be  the  worse  for  you." 

The  question  of  the  promulgation  of  the  February 
Manifesto  had,  as  we  saw,  disclosed  two  currents  of 
opinion  as  to  the  proper  attitude  of  official  Finland 
to  encroachments  on  the  Constitution.  The  Senate 
had  been  divided,  ten  Senators  voting  for  immediate 
promulgation,  nine  for  delay.  When  the  question 
arose  of  the  promulgation  of  the  unconstitutional 
Language  Manifesto  of  June  20,  1900   (to  which 


296  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

further  reference  will  be  made  shortly),  a  similar 
conflict  took  place,  and  no  less  than  twelve  of  the 
Senators  sent  in  their  resignations.  The  conflict  of 
opinion  spread  from  the  Senate  to  the  whole  official 
world,  and  we  see  two  different  theories  of  Fin- 
nish deference  develop. 

The  point  of  view  of  the  party  represented  by  the 
resigning  Senators  was  as  follows:  Unconstitu- 
tional ordinances  and  commands  ought  not  to  be 
carried  out  either  by  Finnish  officials  or  Finnish 
citizens.  According  to  the  Constitution,  only  Fin- 
nish law  is  binding  in  Finland  and  Russian  law 
ought  not  to  be  obeyed.  If  an  official  receives  orders 
to  do  anything  that  would  involve  the  breaking  of 
his  oath  to  observe  the  Constitution,  he  is  bound 
to  disobey  the  orders,  whatever  the  consequences 
to  himself.  At  the  worst,  he  must  resign  rather  than 
assist  in  carrying  out  illegal  orders  from  Eussia. 
Let  Eussia  do  her  own  work  of  destruction;  she 
should  receive  no  help  in  it  from  Finns.  Finland 
might  get  back  what  Eussia  had  taken  away  by 
force — she  would  never  recover  what  she  had  herself 
helped  to  destroy.  The  supporters  of  this  policy  con- 
sisted mainly  of  the  Swedish  and  Young  Finnish 
parties,  who  combined  against  Eussian  aggression 
in  the  so-called  Constitutional  party. 

The  standpoint  of  the  Senators  who  remained  in 
office,  and  of  those  who  supported  them,  may  be 
stated  as  follows :  They  agreed  with  the  Constitu- 
tional party  in  the  desire  to  preserve  Finland's 
autonomy  but  differed  as  to  the  means  to  be  em- 
ployed, holding  that  an  uncompromising  stand  on 
the  strict  observance  of  the  Constitution  would  only 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  297 

irritate  Russia  and  cause  her  once  for  all  to  make 
an  end  of  Finland's  liberties.  They  did  not  believe 
that  Russia  intended  to  go  beyond  a  certain  point, 
and  argued  that  if  they  gave  way  a  little  Russia 
would  be  satisfied  and  not  demand  more.  Therefore 
the  Finnish  official  was  not  necessarily  to  resign 
if  he  was  ordered  to  execute  unconstitutional  com- 
mands; he  was,  in  the  words  of  Yrjo-Koskinen,  *Ho 
look  the  truth  in  the  face  and,  in  so  far  as  it  was 
necessary,  yield  to  the  external  compulsion  of  his- 
tory.''  To  put  the  matter  in  less  metaphysical  lan- 
guage, the  Finnish  officials  '*  ought  to  consider  the 
consequences  of  their  actions  in  every  individual 
case,  and  when  they  found  that,  as  far  as  human 
eye  could  see,  a  temporary  subjection  was  not  to 
be  avoided,  they  ought  to  resign  themselves  to  tread- 
ing the  hard  road  of  history,  while  protesting  all 
the  time  and  insisting  upon  all  rights  for  the  fu- 
ture.'* It  was  felt,  moreover,  on  this  side,  that  it 
would  be  far  easier  to  bring  about  a  return  to  con- 
stitutional government  in  the  future  if  only  the  Rus- 
sian tschinovnik  could  be  kept  out  of  the  country. 
Accordingly,  Finnish  officials  were  not  merely  not 
to  resign  when  a  conflict  arose  between  Russian  com- 
mands and  the  Finnish  laws,  but  they  were  also  to 
accept  vacant  posts,  if  offered  them,  more  especially 
in  the  Senate,  the  centre  of  the  administration.  As 
long  as  this  was  in  Finnish  hands  a  return  to  legal 
conditions  would,  they  held,  be  possible. 

The  supporters  of  this  policy,  who  consisted 
mainly  of  members  of  the  Old  Finnish  group, 
stepped  into  positions  from  which  members  of  the 
Constitutional  party  were  ejected  or  had  resigned. 


298  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

A  long  and  bitter  controversy  has  raged  as  to 
which  of  the  two  policies  the  country  ought  to  adopt. 
There  is  much  to  be  said  on  either  side,  but  to  the 
writer  it  seems  that  the  nation  showed  a  sound  in- 
stinct in  supporting  the  Constitutional  party,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  the  other  policy,  while  having 
undoubted  advantages,  had  the  supreme  disadvan- 
tage of  playing  into  Eussia's  hands.  For,  whatever 
its  other  merits  or  demerits,  it  enabled  Bobrikoff  to 
do  what  he  wanted,  i.e.  govern  Finland  with  the  aid 
of  Finnish  officials.  He  wrote  in  November,  1903: 
*^I  am  content  with  the  Senate  and  imagine  they 
have  nothing  much  against  me."  And  von  Plehve, 
who  was  at  once  Eussian  Minister  President  and 
Minister  Secretary  of  State  for  Finland,  in  an  open 
letter  to  W.  T.  Stead,  said  that  *^the  principle  of 
Imperial  unity"  must  be  established  in  Finland, 
and  that  it  would  be  best  if  it  could  be  accomplished 
through  the  co-operation  of  the  local  authorities,  add- 
ing that  the  hope  of  such  co-operation  is  justified, 
seeing  that  all  branches  of  the  Imperial  authority  are 
already  working  freely  with  the  aid  of  pure  Finns. 

Bobrikoif  had,  however,  to  deal  also  with  a  very 
large  body  of  officials  of  the  Constitutional  party. 
These  he  could  not  induce  to  do  his  will,  and  ac- 
cordingly the  only  course  was  to  get  rid  of  them  and 
put  Eussians  or  Finns  of  the  Senatorial  party  in 
their  place.  In  the  early  autumn  of  1902  several 
ordinances  were  issued  giving  the  Governor-General 
very  wide  powers  over  recalcitrant  officials.  All  offi- 
cials were  henceforth  to  be  liable  to  dismissal,  with- 
out any  investigation  or  trial,  on  the  mere  word 
of  a  superior — a  flagrant  breach  both  of  justice  and 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  299 

of  Finnish  law.  Further,  Russians  were  to  have 
the  same  rights  as  Finns  to  positions  in  the  Finnish 
administration,  although,  according  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, such  appointments  can  only  be  held  by  Finns. 
It  lay  with  the  Governor-General  to  decide  whether 
a  man  was  **  qualified '^  for  the  position  he  desired. 
A  further  step  was  to  free  officials  from  all  fear  of 
prosecution  in  the  Finnish  courts  for  breaches  of 
Finnish  law  committed  by  them  in  executing  Bobri- 
kotf 's  orders,  by  making  such  prosecutions  depend- 
ent on  the  consent  of  a  ^* higher  authority,"  i.e.  the 
Governor-General.  Bobrikoif 's  power  was  still 
further  widened,  at  the  cost  of  the  Senate,  so  that 
he  was  steadily  approaching  the  position  of  Dicta- 
tor of  Finland. 

The  dismissal  of  officials  began  to  take  ever 
greater  proportions  and  to  become  a  matter  of 
daily  occurrence.  One  of  the  most  important  in- 
stances concerned  the  Court  of  Appeal  at  Abo.  On 
April  18,  1902,  some  Cossacks,  acting  under  the 
orders  of  the  Russian  Governor  of  the  province  of 
Nyland,  General  Kaigorodoff,  had  charged  a  peace- 
able crowd  of  people  in  one  of  the  principal  squares 
of  Helsingf ors  and  done  considerable  injury  among 
them.  For  this  the  Governor  was  summoned  to 
stand  his  trial  before  the  Abo  court.  The  court 
was  ordered  by  the  Russian  authorities  to  drop  the 
case,  but  refused  to  submit  to  this  unconstitutional 
command.  The  trial  was  an  important  one,  for  the 
issue  at  stake  was  whether  General  Kaigorodoff,  or 
any  other  Russian,  could  order  his  Cossacks  to  use 
their  sabres  and  knouts  on  peaceful  Finnish  citizens 
with  impunity  or  not.    If  the  trial  was  quashed,  it 


300  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

meant  that  the  Finns  had  no  redress  whatever 
against  the  violence  of  the  Eussian  military,  and 
that  these  could  commit  whatever  crimes  they  chose 
without  fear  of  punishment.  The  Eussian  answer 
to  the  court's  refusal  was  summarily  to  make  an  end 
of  the  resistance  by  dismissing,  with  loss  of  pen- 
sion, no  less  than  twenty-three  members  of  the  court 
and  replacing  them  by  members  of  the  Senatorial 
group.  The  acceptance  of  the  posts  by  these  men, 
and  their  retention  of  them  after  the  events  of  1905, 
was  one  of  the  greatest  causes  of  bitterness  between 
the  Constitutional  and  the  Senatorial  parties.  Bob- 
rikoff  continued  the  work  of  destruction  by  dis- 
missing, in  large  numbers,  members  of  the  Courts 
of  Appeals  at  Viborg  and  Vasa,  besides  removing 
from  office  the  mayors  of  eleven  of  the  principal 
towns  of  Finland.  It  is  estimated  that  among  the 
higher  branches  of  the  administration  alone  the  dis- 
missals amounted  to  nearly  three  hundred,  and  to 
these  must  be  added  all  the  military  officers,  high 
and  low,  the  police  officials,  clerks  and  copyists,  and 
a  host  of  other  persons  who  were  ^either  turned  out 
or  forced  to  resign. 

Besides  the  dismissal  of  constitutionally-minded 
officials,  Bobrikoff  used  various  other  means  to  de- 
nationalize Finland,  only  a  few  of  which  can  be 
mentioned  here.  The  February  Manifesto,  as  has 
already  been  pointed  out,  was  soon  followed  by 
the  Language  Manifesto  of  June  20,  1900.  This  re- 
quired the  extension  of  the  Eussian  language  to 
many  new  branches  of  the  Finnish  administration,^ 

^  Russian  had  of  course  always  been  used  in  the  oflGicial  com- 
munications between  the  leading  Finnish  authorities  and  the 
Emperor-Grand-Duke. 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  301 

although  the  Russian-speaking  population  of  Fin- 
land, exclusive  of  the  military,  is  only  some  8,000. 
It  further  provided  for  the  dismissal  of  officials 
who  could  not  within  a  given  time  speak  Russian, 
which  in  its  turn  implied  that  only  persons  who 
spoke  Russian  would  be  eligible  as  officials  in  fu- 
ture. In  1902  it  was  further  enacted  that  a  very 
substantial  amount  of  Russian  should  be  introduced 
into  the  administration  of  the  province  of  Viborg 
in  two  years  from  January  1,  1904,  and  into  that 
of  the  rest  of  Finland  in  ^ve  years  from  that  date. 

Bobrikoff  early  took  steps  to  stifle  the  expression 
of  public  opinion.  Thus,  by  means  of  an  ordinance 
enacting  that  no  public  meeting  might  be  held  with- 
out his  permission,  he  made  an  end  of  Finland's 
time-honoured  right  of  association,  inherited  from 
Sweden.  Moreover,  he  flooded  the  country  with  his 
spies,  that  they  might  overhear  and  report  speeches 
or  conversations.  The  censorship  of  the  Press  was 
made  far  stricter.  Many  newspapers  were  heavily 
fined,  others  were  suspended  for  several  months 
at  a  time,  others  ceased  to  appear  altogether.  It 
often  happened  that  papers  which  had  actually 
been  sanctioned  by  the  censor  were  confiscated  when 
published  and  their  owners  fined.  One  result  of 
this  persecution  was  the  growth  of  a  very  interest- 
ing secret  Press,  which  was  organized  in  a  remark- 
ably able  way. 

The  education  of  the  country  was  also  to  be  rus- 
sianized. The  Governor-General  was  made  chief 
inspector  of  all  educational  institutions,  and  it  was 
his  duty  to  '  *  so  direct  the  instruction  that  the  youth 


302  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

of  the  country  is  inspired  with  a  spirit  of  affection 
for  H.M.  the  Emperor  and  Eussia. ' '  There  is  some- 
thing grimly  humorous  in  the  notion  of  Bobrikoff 
fulfilling  this  command.  The  hours  that  had  to  be 
devoted  to  the  study  of  Russian  were  disproportion- 
ately increased  so  as  to  interfere  seriously  with  the 
school  curriculum.  Spies  contributed  their  share 
in  instilling  a  love  of  Russia  among  the  school- 
children, and  many  school-teachers  had  to  leave 
their  posts  for  political  reasons.  A  special  com- 
mittee sat  in  the  Governor-General's  office  to  revise 
the  text-books  on  Finnish  history  and  geography 
used  in  the  school — another  spectacle  which  pro- 
vokes a  smile.  Nor  was  the  University  quite  left 
alone,  the  yice-Chancellor  being  forced  to  resign  in 
1903,  some  students  being  banished  and  a  certain 
number  being  ^'sent  down''  for  six  months. 

A  new  Imperial  manifesto  was  issued  on  April  15, 
1903,  conferring  on  Bobrikoff  the  powers  of  a  Dic- 
tator. And  about  this  time  conunenced  the  practice 
of  banishing  leading  Finnish  citizens  who  were 
objectionable  to  Russia.  In  April  1903  eight  promi- 
nent men  were  commanded  to  leave  the  country 
within  a  week.  Their  houses  were  searched  by  Rus- 
sian dragoons.  Shortly  afterwards,  sentence  of 
banishment  was  passed  on  eight  others.  In  June 
and  July  seven  more  followed ;  in  August  and  Sep- 
thember  eleven,  in  October  three,  and  so  on.  Other 
persons  met  with  even  a  worse  fate,  being  arrested 
and  transported  to  Russia,  where  they  were  im- 
prisoned or  kept  under  police  supervision.  In  many 
cases  no  reason  was  given  for  the  banishments;  in 
others,  only  the  general  reason  that  the  banished 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION     303 

man  was  a  danger  to  public  order.  Against  the 
violence  of  Russian  troops  or  police  there  was  no 
redress.  Indeed,  the  police  became,  under  Bobri- 
koff,  more  and  more  the  rulers  of  the  land.  Their 
numbers  increased,  while  their  quality  deteriorated. 
Many  of  the  best  among  them  were  dismissed  or 
resigned,  and  their  places  were  taken  partly  by 
persons  drawn  from  the  worst  elements  of  society 
and  partly  by  Russians,  Esthonians  and  other  for- 
eigners, who  in  most  cases  could  speak  neither 
Swedish  nor  Finnish.  In  Helsingf ors  and  Viborg 
nearly  half  the  police  force  consisted  of  foreigners, 
and  in  Tavastehus  the  proportion  was  even  greater. 
Even  among  the  officers  were  men  who  had  been 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  crime,  but  who  were 
sheltered  by  Bobrikoff  on  condition  that  they  be- 
came his  creatures.  Far  from  protecting  society, 
the  police  force  became  a  menace  to  it.  Persons 
were  illegally  arrested  and  kept  in  prison,  women 
were  subjected  to  insults,  men  and  even  children  to 
gross  maltreatment,  and  all  classes  of  society  to 
the  ignoble  supervision  of  the  paid  spy.  Not  con- 
tent with  this,  Bobrikoff  in  1903  procured  an 
ordinance  which,  in  defiance  of  the  Finnish  Consti- 
tution, gave  to  the  Russian  police  the  same  authority 
in  Finland  as  the  native  police,  together  with  the 
right  to  receive  salaries  out  of  the  Finnish  State 
funds.  Russian  police  now  interfered  in  various 
branches  of  Finnish  life,  looking  for  forbidden  liter- 
ature in  the  custom-house,  carrying  on  house-search- 
ings,  trying  by  bribery  or  the  offer  of  preferment 
to  induce  the  lowest  element  among  the  population 
to  turn  spy  or  informer.    In  this  horrible  aim  they 


304  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

were  sometimes  successful,  and  secret  accusations 
began  to  be  only  too  common.  Such  is  the  effect 
of  forcing  degrading  standards  of  life,  even  upon  a 
population  that  is  naturally  of  sterling  honesty. 

Finally  it  must  be  pointed  out  how  Bobrikoff 
carried  out  the  military  programme  for  which  he 
was  sent  to  Finland,  and  whose  object  was  the  ex- 
tension to  the  Grand  Duchy  of  the  Eussian  military 
system.  The  first  step  was  the  issuing  of  an  ordi- 
nance according  to  the  military  law  of  Russia  which 
prescribed  conscription.  The  number  of  conscripts 
was  to  be  fixed  by  the  Emperor.  Finnish  conscripts 
could  be  drafted  into  Russian  regiments  and  were 
liable  for  service  in  Russia,  and  Finland  was  to  have 
no  separate  military  organization.  Moreover,  all 
the  Finnish  troops  except  the  Guards  and  the 
Dragoon  regiment  were  disbanded,  a  step  which 
caused  particular  bitterness.  Shortly  afterwards 
Bobrikoff  found  an  excuse  for  disbanding  the  Dra- 
goons also. 

A  great  national  address  of  protest  was  made  to 
the  Emperor,  nearly  half  a  million  signatures  being 
collected.  But  the  Finns  prepared  to  protest  also 
in  a  far  more  effective  way,  namely,  by  refusing  to 
serve  as  conscripts.  A  most  astonishing  strike  was 
the  result,  the  execution  of  which  implied  a  re- 
markable power  of  organization.  When  carried  out 
in  its  fulness  the  plan  of  action  was  as  follows :  The 
clergy  first  refused  to  proclaim  the  new  law  in  the 
churches.  Both  the  clergy  and  the  district  clerks 
then  refused  to  send  in  lists  of  the  young  men  whose 
age  rendered  them  liable  to  service.  The  recruiting 
boards  refused  to  make  a  selection  from  these  young 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  305 

men.  The  presidents  of  the  communes  and  the  doc- 
tors refused  to  work  the  law  in  any  way.  Finally, 
the  young  men  themselves  refused  to  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance on  the  day  when  they  should  have  become 
recruits. 

In  few  places  was  this  scheme  carried  out  in  its 
fulness,  the  clergy  in  particular  often  being  very 
half-hearted  in  their  resistance.  The  congregations 
in  many  cases,  however,  made  up  for  this  by  walking 
out  of  the  church  in  a  body  as  soon  as  the  pastor 
began  to  proclaim  the  law,  or  by  singing  hymns  so 
loud  that  his  voice  could  not  be  heard.  By  1903, 
however,  the  resistance  had  weakened,  partly  owing 
to  the  arguments  of  the  Senatorial  party,  who  dis- 
approved of  the  strike,  and  partly  owing  to  the 
cleverness  of  the  Russians,  who  began  by  merely 
insisting  on  an  almost  purely  formal  registration  of 
names.  About  two-thirds  of  the  conscripts  pre- 
sented themselves,  Russian  troops  being  in  some 
cases  employed  to  bring  recruits  to  the  place  of 
meeting.  In  1904  about  four-fifths  of  the  conscripts 
presented  themselves,  and  Russia  seemed  almost 
to  have  gained  her  point.  The  long  struggle  against 
brutal  oppression  was  clearly  telling  on  Finland, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  nation  seemed  likely  to  be 
broken,  when  relief  came  from  an  unexpected  quar- 
ter. Eugene  Schauman,  a  young  gentleman  em- 
ployed at  the  Senate,  shot  Bobrikoff  on  the  steps 
of  the  Senate  House  on  June  16,  1904,  and  after- 
wards shot  himself.  He  had  no  confidants,  and  for 
some  time  before  the  assassination  he  avoided  his 
friends  and  refused  to  greet  them  in  the  streets, 
lest  they  should  be  arrested  on  account  of  his  asso- 
ciation with  them. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    SECOND    PEBIOD    OF    RUSSIANIZATION 

OTHER  circumstances  besides  Bobrikoff 's  death 
contributed  at  this  time  to  relieve  the  pres- 
sure upon  Finland.  Russia  was  in  the  midst  of  the 
war  with  Japan,  and  needed  all  her  forces  for  that 
great  struggle.  The  war,  moreover,  afforded  a  long 
sought  opportunity  to  the  Russian  revolutionary- 
parties,  who  brought  about  the  General  Strike  which 
resulted  in  the  Tsar's  concession  of  a  Duma.  Under 
Prince  Obolenski,  Bobrikoff 's  successor,  the  Russian 
grip  on  Finland  was  already  relaxing,  and  as  soon 
as  the  news  of  the  Tsar's  manifesto  conceding  the 
Duma  to  Russia  reached  Finland,  the  General  Strike 
broke  out  there  also. 

It  had  many  results,  but  the  most  important  was 
that  it  induced  the  Russian  Government  to  withdraw 
the  illegal  ordinances  and  restore  constitutional 
government.  The  Tsar  issued  a  manifesto  to  this 
effect,  and  life  resumed  its  ordinary  course.  As 
was  pointed  out  in  previous  chapters,  the  franchise 
was  widened  and  the  Constitution  amended.  The 
Russian  officials  vanished.  The  Senate  was  formed 
by  the  Constitutional  party,  under  the  chairman- 
ship of  Leo  Mechelin,  and  an  era  of  reform  began. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  constitutional  battle  having  been 
fought  and  won  in  Russia,  a  bright  future  was  open- 
ing for  Finland. 

The  period  of  hope  was,  however,  short-lived,  and 
the  storm-clouds  soon  gathered  again  round  both 
countries.  By  means  of  wholesale  executions  and 
banishments,  Stolypin  crushed  the  revolutionary 

306 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION    307 

movement  throughout  Russia,  and,  after  a  fierce 
struggle  with  the  first  two  named  Dumas,  he  suc- 
ceeded, by  means  of  his  famous  coup  d'etat,  in  get- 
ting a  Duma  which  was  an  obedient  instrument  in 
his  hands.    Finland's  turn  now  came. 

To  the  old  motives  calling  for  the  russianization 
of  Finland  new  ones  were  added.  The  Russian  Gov- 
ernment was  now  animated  by  a  desire  to  take  ven- 
geance on  Finland  for  the  death  of  Bobrikoff  and 
the  General  Strike.  The  wish  to  distract  attention 
as  much  as  possible  from  the  misgovernment  at 
home  was  also  a  reason  for  reviving  the  Finnish 
question.  Moreover,  the  Duma,  crippled  as  it  was, 
had  introduced  a  new  element  into  Russian  politics. 
The  reactionaries  now  required  a  certain  amount  of 
popular  support,  or  at  least  the  appearance  of  it, 
for  whatever  they  undertook,  and  Stolypin  pur- 
chased this  by  attacking  Finland.  He  thereby  se- 
cured the  support  of  the  Nationalists,  who  always 
regarded  with  satisfaction  the  persecution  of  the 
non-Russian  nationalities  within  the  Empire.  This 
plan  had  been  suggested  early  in  1906,  when  the 
position  of  the  Russian  Government  was  still  critical 
in  the  extreme.  Count  Witte  had  said  at  a  Cabinet 
Council  presided  over  by  the  Emperor:  ** Assuming 
that  we  survive  the  present  misfortunes  .  .  .  the 
Finnish  question  is  not  dangerous.  .  .  .  Why  should 
your  Majesty  take  it  upon  yourself  to  settle  the 
Finnish  question!  Rather  let  the  Duma  do  so.  If 
it  is  nationalistic,  it  will  go  farther  than  the  mon- 
archs  have  gone ;  it  will  settle  every  question.  It  is 
inadvisable  for  the  Government  to  provoke  the  Finns 
and  drive  them  to  ally  themselves  with  the  Duma." 


308  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

This  discussion  incidentally  throws  a  sad  light 
on  the  degree  of  sincerity  in  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment's restoration  of  the  Finnish  Constitution  a 
month  or  two  earlier. 

It  is  impossible  to  go  into  details  about  the  latest 
attack  on  the  Finnish  Constitution,  and  the  subject 
can  only  be  presented  in  outline.  The  campaign 
commenced  on  May  18,  1908,  when  M.  Stolypin  ex- 
plained his  Finnish  policy  to  the  Duma.  He  argued 
that  Russia's  rights  in  Finland  depended  not  on 
the  Act  of  Assurance  at  Borga,  but  on  the  Treaty 
of  Fredrikshamn  (see  Chapter  XVI).  He  admitted 
Finland's  autonomy,  but  said  that  this  was  merely 
a  *4ocal"  autonomy,  and  that  in  Imperial  matters 
Russia  had  the  right  to  legislate  for  Finland.  At 
the  same  time  he  hastened  to  reassure  Finland  and 
the  world  in  general  that  ^Hhere  must  be  no  room 
for  the  suspicion  that  Russia  would  violate  the 
rights  of  autonomy  conferred  on  Finland  by  the 
monarchs.  In  Russia  might  cannot  go  before  right. ' ' 

The  worth  of  this  excellent  sentiment  was  seen  a 
fortnight  later,  when  on  June  2nd  the  Tsar  sanc- 
tioned a  protocol  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  which 
practically  transferred  the  control  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  Finland  from  the  Finnish  Senate  to  the 
aforesaid  Council.  Before  being  brought  before 
the  Tsar,  all  Finnish  legislative  proposals  and  all 
administrative  business  **of  general  importance" 
must,  according  to  this  protocol,  be  communicated 
to  the  Russian  Council  of  Ministers.  The  Council 
was  then  to  determine  **  which  matters  concerning 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Finland  also  have  a  bearing 
on  the  interests  of  the  Empire,  and  consequently 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  309 

call  for  a  fuller  examination  on  the  part  of  the 
Ministries  and  the  Government  Boards."  Having 
determined  that  a  matter  affects  some  **  Imperial 
interest, '  *  the  Council  was  to  prepare  a  report  on  it. 
If  the  Council  and  the  Finnish  authorities  differed 
in  their  views  of  the  matter,  the  Finnish  Secretary 
of  State,  who  alone,  according  to  the  Constitution, 
can  bring  Finnish  matters  before  the  Tsar,  was  only 
to  do  so  in  the  presence  of  the  President  of  the 
Council  of  Ministers  or  some  other  Russian  Min- 
ister. 

Perhaps  the  most  astonishing  thing  about  this 
revolutionary  protocol  was  that  none  of  the  Fin- 
nish authorities  knew  anything  whatever  about  it 
beforehand.  Neither  the  Secretary  of  State,  nor 
the  Diet,  nor  the  Senate  was  warned.  The  whole 
matter  was  arranged  privately  by  the  Tsar  and  his 
Ministers.  Yet  it  involved  nothing  less  than  the 
undermining  of  the  Finnish  Constitution. 

Needless  to  say,  the  Senate  protested  to  the  Em- 
peror, and  no  less  than  three  memoranda  was  sent 
up  to  him,  bearing  the  dates  of  June  19,  1908,  De- 
cember 22,  1908,  and  February  25,  1909. 

The  memoranda  were  rejected  by  the  Emperor  on 
the  advice  of  the  Council  of  Ministers.  The  Diet 
forwarded  a  petition  dated  October  13,  1908,  but 
this  met  with  the  same  fate.  The  Emperor  went 
so  far  as  to  refuse  an  audience  to  the  Finnish  Secre- 
tary of  State,  so  that  the  matter  could  not  even  be 
brought  before  him  in  the  constitutional  manner. 
Half  the  Senators,  those  composing  the  Department 
of  Justice,  resigned  as  a  consequence  of  these  pro- 
ceedings, while  Mechelin  and  many  of  his  colleagues 


310  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

in  the  central  administration  were  dismissed.  Let 
US  now  consider  how  the  Russian  Council  of  Min- 
isters used  the  powers  it  had  thus  usurped. 

In  the  first  place,  wide  as  were  its  powers  under 
this  unconstitutional  protocol,  the  Council  was  not 
content  with  them,  but  proceeded  to  lay  hands  on 
measures  that  could  by  no  means  be  classed  as  of 
^* Imperial  interest.''  Following  the  CounciPs  ad- 
vice, the  Emperor  refused  his  sanction  to  a  num- 
ber of  such  Bills.  In  November,  1908,  a  Trades  Law 
adopted  by  the  Diet  was  thus  destroyed.  In  De- 
cember, 1908,  a  grant  of  the  Senate  for  the  building 
of  a  road  in  Finnish  Lapland  was  disallowed.  In 
the  same  month  a  proposal  to  transfer  £200,000 
from  the  ** General  State  Fund''  to  a  fund  for  fur- 
nishing loans  to  secure  small  holdings  for  the  land- 
less population  was  interfered  with.  Instances  could 
easily  be  multiplied.  The  administration  of  the 
country  was  seriously  interfered  with,  the  bureau- 
crats at  Petersburg  being  entirely  ignorant  of  Fin- 
nish conditions  and  utterly  out  of  sympathy  with 
the  nation  they  were  mismanaging.  It  is  worth 
pointing  out  not  merely  the  unconstitutionalism  and 
the  harmfulness  of  the  Council's  action,  but  also 
its  absurdity.  Thus  in  January  1910  we  find  the 
Council  of  Ministers  actually  engaged  in  discussing 
whether  a  new  porter  might  be  appointed  to  the 
Geographical  Department  of  the  University  of  Hels- 
ingf ors  and  whether  the  physical  laboratory  might 
be  allowed  to  engage  a  new  stoker. 

The  next  great  blow  directed  against  Finland 
was  the  appointment  of  a  committee,  consisting  of 
six  Russian  and  five  Finnish  members,  to  draft 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  311 

proposals  for  regulations  concerning  **  Imperial  leg- 
islation." Its  real  work  was  to  decide  what  mat- 
ters might  reasonably  be  withdrawn  from  the  com- 
petence of  the  Finnish  Diet  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  ** matters  of  Imperial  interest.''  Both  the 
Finnish  and  Russian  members  drew  up  projects, 
but  naturally  failed  to  reach  any  agreement.  The 
reason  becomes  clear  when  we  examine  the  Russian 
project.  Legislation  concerning  the  following  sub- 
jects was  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  Finnish  Diet 
and  transferred  to  Russia: — 

(1)  The  participation  of  Finland  in  the  expenditure  of  the 

Empire,  and  the  imposts,  taxes  and  charges  to  be  fixed 
for  this  purpose; 

(2)  The  taking  up  in  Finland  of  military  service  and  of  other 

military  burdens; 

(3)  The  rights  of  such  Russian  subjects  resident  in  Finland 

as  are  not  Finnish  citizens; 

(4)  The    employment    in    Finland    of   the    language   of   the 

Empire ; 

(5)  The  execution  in  Finland  of  sentences,  verdicts  and  reso- 

lutions of  courts  of  justice  and  other  authorities  in 
other  parts  of  the  Empire,  as  well  as  of  agreements  and 
covenants  there  entered  into; 

(6)  The  fundamental  principles  for,  and  the  limitations  of, 

carrying  on  the  Finnish  government  by  special  insti- 
tutions on  the  basis  of  a  special  mode  of  legislation 
(Fundamental  Laws  of  1906,  Article  2) ; 

(7)  Safeguarding  public  order  in  Finland,  and  the  organiza- 

tions which  deal  with  public  order; 

(8)  Criminal  law,  and  the  official  responsibility  of  public  func- 

tionaries in  Finland; 

(9)  The  fundamental  principles  of  the  administration  of  jus- 

tice in  Finland; 

(10)  The  fundamental  principles  of  public  education  in  Fin- 

land, and  the  organization  and  control  of  the  same; 

(11)  The  establishment  in  Finland  of  companies,  associations 

and  societies,  and  the  conditions  under  which  they  may 
work,  and  the  arranging  of  public  meetings; 


312  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

(12)  Legislation  about  the  Press  in  Finland,  and  import  of 

foreign  literature; 

(13)  The  customs  of  Finland; 

(14)  Protection  of  trade  marks  and  commercial  privileges,  as 

well  as  literary  and  artistic  copyright; 

(15)  The  monetary  system  in  Finland; 

(16)  The  post,  telegraph,  telephone,  aerial  navigation  and  other 

similar  means  of  communication  in  Finland; 

(17)  The  railways  in  Finland  so  far  as  they  touch  the  defence 

of  the  Empire  and  the  traffic  betwee-i  Finland  and 
other  parts  of  the  Empire,  as  well  as  international 
traffic;  also  the  railway  telegraph; 

(18)  Navigation,    and    the    pilot    and    lighthouse    service    in 

Finland ; 

(19)  The  rights  of  aliens  in  Finland. 

A  study  of  this  list  shows  that  Russia  intended 
to  abolish  the  Finnish  Diet  as  it  now  exists  and  re- 
duce it  to  the  level  of  a  county  council. 

Such  was  the  end  in  view,  and  it  now  remained  to 
carry  it  out.  Count  Witte's  advice  to  let  the  Duma 
settle  the  Finnish  question  was  not  forgotten.  But 
nationalistic  as  the  Duma  was,  the  Opposition  put 
up  such  a  hardy  resistance  when  the  above  project 
was  laid  before  it  that  the  Premier  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  say  that  it  was  to  be  looked  upon  not  as  a 
Bill  to  be  passed  immediately,  but  rather  as  a  pro- 
gramme for  future  legislation.  As  such  it  was 
accepted  by  the  Duma,  and  the  reactionary  Purish- 
kevitch  uttered  his  triumphant  exclamation,  ^*  Finis 
Finlandiae." 

It  was  not  for  long  that  the  Russian  project  re- 
mained at  the  programme  stage.  The  obedient 
Duma  proceeded  to  pass  two  laws  which  are  having 
a  profound  influence  on  the  situation  in  Finland. 
The  one  concerns  the  military  question.  Since  the 
dissolution  of  the  Finnish  army  by  Bobrikoff,  Fin- 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  313 

land  has,  by  decision  of  the  Diet,  paid  an  annual 
contribution  to  the  Russian  Treasury  in  lieu  of  mili- 
tary service.  The  Duma  decided  in  January,  1912, 
that  this  arrangement  should  be  made  permanent. 
To  make  this  contribution  illegal  it  has  not  been  pro- 
posed to  the  Diet,  which  would  have  accepted  it. 
Far  more  important,  however,  in  its  effect  upon  Fin- 
land has  been  the  other  Duma  law,  which  extended 
to  all  Russians  resident  in  Finland  full  citizen  rights. 
This  also  was  never  put  before  the  Diet  as  a  Bill,  lest 
it  be  legalized ;  the  Diet  would  have  asked  no  better 
than  accept  it. 

These  two  measures  were  laid  before  the  Finnish 
Diet  in  the  form  of  proposals  about  which  it  was  to 
be  allowed  to  express  its  opinion.  The  Diet  refused 
to  do  so,  on  the  ground  that  the  whole  procedure  of 
the  Russian  authorities  was  a  violation  of  the  Fin- 
nish Constitution,  according  to  which  the  Diet  had 
the  right  not  merely  to  give  an  opinion  upon  such 
questions,  but  to  decide  them.  The  Diet  expressed 
its  willingness,  however,  to  meet  Russian  wishes  in 
every  possible  way,  only  provided  that  these  were 
brought  to  its  notice  in  the  manner  prescribed  by 
the  Constitution.  To  have  acted  otherwise  would 
have  been  to  surrender  Finland's  entire  right  to 
constitutional  government. 

Finding  that  the  Diet  would  not  play  into  their 
hands,  the  Russian  authorities  returned  the  two 
measures  to  the  Duma,  which,  in  the  committee 
stage,  made  important  additions  to  them.  The 
rights  of  Finnish  citizenship  were  extended  from 
the  civil  population  to  the  Russian  military  in  Fin- 
land, and  the  clause  which  prescribed  that  all  Fin- 


314  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

nish  officials  who  resisted  the  execution  of  the  Duma 
measures  should  be  tried  before  a  Russian  court 
was  widened  so  as  to  embrace  not  only  the  official 
but  also  the  non-official  world.  This  clause  has 
caused  more  trouble  than  anything  else  of  recent 
years  in  Finland,  and  has  led  to  the  astounding 
spectacle  of  the  arrest  and  trial  before  a  local  court 
in  Russia  of  one  of  Finland  ^s  three  Supreme  Courts 
of  Appeal.  And  as  the  incident  which  led  to  this 
crisis  is  a  trifling  one,  it  is  extremely  important  to 
remember  that  the  Finnish  objection  to  the  Duma 
laws  does  not  depend  on  the  actual  contents  of  those 
laws.  Apart  from  the  monstrous  clause  providing 
for  the  trial  of  Finns  in  Russia,  the  Diet  would  have 
little  objection  to  passing  similar  measures,  though 
that  concerning  Russian  residents  would  re- 
quire considerable  modification  in  matters  of  detail. 
The  real  dispute  is  not  over  the  rights  of  Russians 
in  Finland,  but  over  the  right  of  the  Duma  to  legis- 
late for  Finland.  The  conflict  is  as  much  one  of 
principle  as  was  John  Hampden's  refusal  to  pay 
ship-money.  It  arose  in  the  following  manner:  A 
Russian  wished  to  set  up  a  store  in  Viborg.  Accord- 
ing to  Finnish  law,  he  had  to  apply  for  permission 
to  the  Governor  of  the  province,  but  according  to 
the  newly  made  Duma  law  he  must  go  to  the  town 
council.  He  went  to  the  latter,  which  promptly  re- 
ferred him  to  the  Governor,  thus  putting  on  record 
its  refusal  to  recognize  the  Russian-made  law.  The 
Russian  authorities  then  arrested  three  members 
of  the  town  council,  who  were  subsequently  tried 
and  imprisoned  in  Petersburg,  under  a  clause  of  the 
Duma  law.    The  Supreme  Court  of  Viborg  protested 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  315 

against  the  arrest  of  the  three  magistrates,  as  being 
a  breach  of  Finnish  law,  and  ordered  their  release. 
This  was  refused,  and  steps  were  now  taken  against 
the  Supreme  Court.  Twenty-four  of  its  members 
were  arrested  in  December,  1912,  were  tried  next 
month  by  the  Petersburg  District  Court,  and  (all 
except  one)  were  sentenced  to  sixteen  months*  im- 
prisonment and  loss  of  office  for  resisting  the  Duma 
law.  It  must  be  difficult  to  find  a  parallel  to  such  a 
situation  as  this,  in  which  a  Supreme  Court  in  one 
country  is  forcibly  removed  to  another  country  and 
there  tried  and  condemned  by  a  local  court  for  hav- 
ing obeyed  the  very  laws  which  it  was  bound  by  the 
most  solemn  oath  to  maintain. 

The  Viborg  judges,  many  of  whom  are  elderly 
men,  have  suffered  acutely  under  the  Russian 
prison  regime,  and  their  sufferings  were  in- 
creased by  the  knowledge  that  on  their  release 
their  occupation  would  be  gone  and  their  places 
filled  by  Old  Fennoman  nominees  of  the  Russian 
Government,  under  whom  the  Court  cannot  but 
degenerate. 

The  whole  affair  is  typical  of  Russia's  work  of 
destruction  in  Finland.  Everywhere  honest  and 
capable  officials  are  being  ousted  and  replaced  by 
persons  of  an  altogether  lower  type. 

The  province  of  Viborg  has  all  along  borne  the 
brunt  of  the  Russian  attack.  Bobrikoff,  in  his  report 
upon  his  work  from  1899  to  1902,  proposed  its  re- 
union with  Russia,  and  added  significantly:  **The 
reincorporation  of  the  province  of  Viborg  ought  to 
be  regarded  only  as  the  first  step  towards  a  final 
inclusion  of  Finland  in  the  Russian  State.''     Of 


316  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

recent  years  the  Russian  Government  has  more  than 
once  contemplated  carrying  out  this  plan,  but  noth- 
ing has  as  yet  come  of  it,  owing  as  far  as  one  can 
judge,  to  the  opposition  it  provoked  abroad.  But 
that  the  idea  is  not  abandoned  is  clear  from  the 
decision  to  incorporate  with  Russia  two  parishes, 
Nykyrka  and  Kivinebb,  which  lie  on  the  frontier. 
These  parishes,  which  number  about  30,000  inhabit- 
ants, are  to  be  annexed  on  the  pretext  that  Russia 
requires  them  for  military  purposes,  and  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  their  seizure  is  intended  only  to 
be  the  prelude  to  the  reincorporation  of  the  entire 
province. 

Among  other  striking  features  of  the  work  of  rus- 
sianization  have  been  the  frequent  dissolutions  of 
the  Diet  for  protesting  against  the  unconstitutional 
regime;  the  russianization  of  the  pilot  service;  the 
disbanding  of  the  boy  and  girl  scouts,  who  were 
regarded  as  a  menace  to  the  Empire ;  and  the  appro- 
priation of  Finnish  State  funds  for  Russian  pur- 
poses and  to  feather  the  nests  of  Russian  officials. 
The  list  could  be  extended  ad  nauseam^  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  show  the  general  trend  of  Russian 
policy.  It  is,  indeed,  the  programme  of  Bobrikoff 
over  again,  without  its  dramatic  elements.  The  Rus- 
sian authorities  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
less  resistance  will  be  provoked  if  they  go  to  work 
quietly. 

Such  a  wholesale  destruction  of  a  nation's  rights — 
rights,  be  it  noted,  which  are  not  merely  abstract 
rights  of  humanity  but  the  concrete  historical  rights 
of  Finland,  definitely  established  by  law — cannot 
possibly  be  justified  on  any  other  hypothesis  except 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  317 

that  they  seriously  impair  the  safety  or  efficiency  of 
the  Russian  Empire.  If  Finland  is  merely  being 
sacrificed  to  the  temporary  convenience  of  Russian 
politicians,  who  desire  either  to  distract  attention 
from  home  misgovernment  or  to  win  the  support  of 
the  least  educated  and  most  chauvinistic  people  in 
Russia,  or  again,  because  it  is  thought  to  be  danger- 
ous to  the  Russian  Government  to  have  a  flourishing 
democracy  so  close  to  the  Russian  capital,  or  because 
it  is  a  way  of  finding  lucrative  positions  for  hungry 
Russian  officials,  all  that  can  be  said  is  that  such  a 
sacrifice  is  not  merely  unjustifiable  but  abominable. 
It  is  a  dim  perception  of  this  fact  that  has  caused 
the  Fennophobes  in  Russia  to  raise  the  cry  of  Fin- 
nish disloyalty.  Finland,  it  is  argued,  is  disloyal, 
and  Russia  cannot  afford  to  have  a  disloyal  State  so 
near  her  capital.  Hence  Finland  must  be  russian- 
ized. Now,  if  Finland  were  really  disloyal  there 
would  be  much  to  be  said  for  this  argument.  But 
Finnish  disloyalty  is  a  pure  myth,  and  a  myth  whose 
origin  will  not  bear  examination,  as  any  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  activities  of  the  Russian  Secret 
Police  in  Finland  very  well  knows.  It  is  perfectly 
true  that  in  years  immediately  following  the  Diet  of 
Borga  there  may  have  been  a  few  sentimentalists 
who  dreamed  of  a  reunion  between  Finland  and 
Sweden,  but  no  one  paid  any  attention  to  them,  and 
to  talk  of  a  separatist  movement  in  Finland  is  to 
misrepresent  history.  The  bond  between  Sweden 
and  her  former  province  rapidly  became  what  it 
now  is,  one  of  culture  and  historical  tradition,  with- 
out any  political  significance  whatever.  Meanwhile 
the  bond  with  Russia  grew  steadily  stronger,  for 


318  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

various  reasons,  such  as  the  personal  popularity  of 
the  Emperors,  who  were  greatly  beloved  in  Fin- 
land, the  development  of  commercial  intercourse 
between  the  two  countries,  the  part  played  by  Fin- 
land in  the  Crimean  War,  and,  in  a  word,  the  general 
effects  of  the  political  tie  uniting  the  two  countries. 
Indeed,  one  feels  that  so  far  from  showing  disloyalty 
the  Finns  were  more  inclined  to  err  on  the  other 
side,  and  in  their  gratitude  to  the  Russian  monarch 
to  stint  their  sympathy  for  those  in  Eussia  who  were 
striving  to  obtain  the  constitutional  blessings  that 
Finland  already  enjoyed.  That  Finland  is  less  en- 
thusiastically loyal  to  Russia  to-day  than  twenty 
years  ago  may  readily  be  admitted,  but  this  must  be 
attributed  simply  and  solely  to  the  fact  that  of  recent 
years  Russia  has  done  everything  possible  to  de- 
stroy her  loyalty.  In  view  of  all  that  has  been  done 
to  irritate  the  Finns,  it  says  much  for  their  good 
sense  that  they  have  not  been  goaded  into  rebellion, 
as  many  a  more  excitable  nation  might  have  been. 
But  of  rebellion  there  has  never  been  a  question, 
and  to  speak  of  such  a  thing  is  a  calumny.  If  Rus- 
sia wants  to  revive  the  waning  fires  of  Finnish 
loyalty,  she  has  only  to  return  to  the  policy  she  pur- 
sued for  ninety  years  with  such  conspicuous  suc- 
cess. That  policy  was  a  surer  guarantee  of  Russia's 
safety  from  invasion  via  Finland  than  the  russian- 
ization  of  Finland  can  ever  be. 

Akin  to  the  argument  of  alleged  Finnish  dis- 
loyalty is  another,  which  runs  that,  owing  to  the 
danger  of  invasion  via  Finland,  Russia  must  acquire 
absolute  military  control  over  the  Grand  Duchy, 
which  must  consequently  be  russianized.     The  an- 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  319 

swer  to  this  is  quite  simple — so  simple,  indeed,  that 
it  shows  the  argument  to  be  one  of  questionable  hon- 
esty. It  is  that  Russia  in  virtue  of  the  Constitution 
already  enjoys  absolute  military  and  naval  control 
over  Finland,  and  that  this  control  could  not  there- 
fore be  increased,  however  much  the  country  were 
russianized.  Finland  has  no  authority  whatever 
over  the  military  and  naval  forces  Russia  chooses 
to  station  in  the  Grand  Duchy,  and  would  have  no 
legal  right  to  complain  if  Russia  were  to  station 
the  entire  forces  of  the  Empire  there. 

The  only  other  ground  on  which  the  destruction  of 
Finnish  rights  could  possibly  be  justified  is  that 
these  interfere  with  the  efficient  administration  of 
the  Empire.  No  serious  attempt  to  show  that  this 
is  so  has  been  made  on  the  side  of  Russia.  It  would 
indeed  be  ridiculous  to  maintain  that  the  Imperial 
administration  as  a  whole  is  interfered  with  by  the 
Constitution  of  a  country  of  3,000,000  inhabitants, 
which  is  a  mere  corner  of  the  huge  Russian  Empire. 
The  narrower  proposition  that,  in  certain  details,  a 
modification  of  Russo-Finnish  relations  might  prove 
necessary,  may,  however,  be  freely  admitted.  But 
if  a  modification  of  Russo-Finnish  relations  is  de- 
sirable, the  question  arises ;  How  ought  any  change 
determined  on  to  be  carried  out! 

The  answer  is  perfectly  clear.  As  the  Conference 
of  International  Lawyers  pointed  out  in  March, 
1910,  *^  Finland  has  the  right  to  demand  that  the 
Russian  Empire  should  respect  her  Constitution,'' 
and  **if  the  superior  interests  of  the  Empire  de- 
mand the  establishment  of  a  common  procedure  for 
dealing  with  certain  internal  affairs,  it  pertains  to 


320  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

the  Diet  either  itself  to  determine  those  affairs  or  to 
consent  to  the  creation  of  a  body  charged  with  deter- 
mining them.'* 

In  other  words,  no  change  can  legally  be  made 
without  the  consent  of  the  Diet.  For  the  overriding 
of  the  Diet's  authority  and  the  forcing  of  her  will  on 
Finland  by  external  pressure,  Eussia  has  no  justi- 
fication whatever,  either  legal  or  moral. 

Russia's  refusal  to  make  use  of  the  simple  and 
natural  way  of  settling  the  question — the  way  time 
after  time  pointed  out  by  the  Finns — her  persistence 
in  pursuing  a  policy  so  contrary  to  her  own  true 
interests  in  Finland  and  one  which  can  only  end  in 
turning  the  fairest  spot  in  the  Empire  into  a  discon- 
tended  and  sullen  land;  her  tenacity  in  the  face  of 
the  protests  of  enlightened  public  opinion  and  of 
expert  legal  opinion  both  in  Russia  and  in  West 
Europe;  her  perseverance,  in  spite  of  dangers  and 
complications  at  home,  in  a  course  of  action  of  which 
the  obvious  risks  so  utterly  outweigh  the  visible 
advantages — these  and  similar  considerations  have 
caused  people  to  suspect  that  there  must  be  some 
other  motive  in  Russia's  mind,  and  to  find  it  in  a 
historical  necessity  pushing  her  towards  the  open 
sea.  In  other  words,  it  is  argued  that  the  russian- 
ization  of  Finland  is  in  reality  intended  to  mask  an 
aggressive  movement  upon  Sweden  and  Norway. 

This  theory  has  been  put  forward  several  times — 
e.g.,  by  Mr.  V.  Whitford  in  the  Contemporary  Re- 
view for  August,  1912,  by  Dr.  Sven  Hedin  in  several 
articles  and  pamphlets,  and  by  Herr  Konni  Zilliacus 
in  his  **Revolutionen  och  Kontrarevolutionen  i  Rys- 
sland  och  Finland. ' '  It  may  be  restated  as  follows : — 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  321 

Russia  has  long  desired  to  acquire  great  seaports, 
but  found  herself  checked  on  every  side.  There  have 
been  four  great  lines  of  advance — one  southwards  to 
Constantinople  and  the  Mediterranean,  one  east- 
wards to  Port  Arthur,  one  southeast  to  the  Persian 
Gulf  and  Indian  Ocean,  and  one  northwest  to  the 
Atlantic.  Sometimes  one  line  of  advance  has  been 
most  pressed,  sometimes  another.  The  advance  to- 
wards the  Atlantic  began  with  the  foundation  of  St. 
Petersburg  and  the  efforts  of  Peter  the  Great's  suc- 
cessors to  conquer  Finland.  A  great  step  forward 
was  taken  in  1809,  for  not  only  did  Russia  acquire 
the  Finnish  ports  on  the  Gulfs  of  Finland  and 
Bothnia,  together  with  the  Aland  Islands,  but  (what 
is  usually  little  recognized)  extended  her  frontier  at 
one  point  to  within  20  miles  of  the  Atlantic.  A 
glance  at  the  map  shows  that  Finland,  far  up  in  the 
north,  pushes  as  it  were  an  arm  between  Norway 
and  Sweden.  **For  some  300  miles,"  writes  Mr. 
Whitford,  *' Russia  is  only  separated  from  the  ocean 
by  a  narrow  strip  of  Norwegian  territory.  At  one 
point  her  frontier  comes  within  18  miles  of  the 
Lyngenf  jord.  There  are  many  ports  in  the  north  of 
Norway  which  would  afford  excellent  naval  har- 
bours, for  instance  Vardo,  Hammerfest,  Tromso. 
All  of  these  are  kept  ice-free  throughout  the  winter 
by  the  Gulf  Stream.  When  it  is  remembered  that 
her  Empire  extends  to  the  Pacific  on  the  east,  it  will 
be  seen  how  great  is  the  temptation  for  Russia  to 
acquire  those  few  miles  of  territory  which  separate 
her  from  her  goal  on  the  west.  Further,  she  might 
easily  be  provided  with  a  practically  unbroken  line 
of  communication  from  West  Europe  to  East  Asia. 


322  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

For  not  far  south  of  the  Lyngenfjord  runs  the  Lap- 
land railway,  recently  constructed  by  Sweden.  This 
joins  the  Atlantic  at  Narvik  to  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia 
at  Luled.  A  branch  line  covers  a  part  of  the  short 
distance  from  Lule&  to  the  Finnish  frontier  at 
Haparanda  (north  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia).  Con- 
sequently, if  Russia  were  to  acquire  this  railway, 
so  temptingly  close  to  her  frontiers,  she  would 
possess,  save  for  the  one  little  gap  just  indicated,  a 
vast  line  of  railway  joining  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Russia  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  reach  the  sea  either  in  the  south  or  the  Far 
East.  The  result  of  the  wars  of  1827-8,  1854-5  and 
1877-8  seemed  to  show  conclusively  that  the  way 
southwards  was,  for  a  long  time,  blocked.  Efforts 
were  now  directed  to  the  Far  East,  and  ended  in 
Russia  snatching  Port  Arthur  from  the  hands  of 
victorious  Japan.  Everything  possible  was  done  to 
fortify  and  render  impregnable  the  ice-free  port 
thus  won,  the  Siberian  railway  being  continued  to 
Port  Arthur  and  a  large  fleet  stationed  there.  But 
Russia's  prodigious  efforts  and  sacrifices  only  ended 
in  the  disasters  of  the  war  with  Japan  and  the  loss 
of  the  splendid  port.  Baffled  here,  Russia  turned  to 
the  southeast  and  the  northwest.  She  continued  her 
earlier  work  in  the  former  direction  by  gradually 
overrunning  North  Persia  and  preparing  to  annex 
at  least  part  of  that  kingdom,  thus  getting  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  Persian  Gulf — a  process  we  are 
watching  to-day.  At  the  same  time  she  continued 
her  progress  towards  the  Atlantic  by  returning  with 
redoubled  energy  to  the  russianization  of  Finland. 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  323 

Facts  which  lend  confirmation  to  this  theory  are 
to  be  found,  as  Mr.  Whitf ord  shows,  both  in  Finland, 
Russia  and  the  Scandinavian  countries. 

For  instance,  Russia  has  interfered  extensively  in 
Finnish  railway  policy,  forbidding  the  building  of 
lines  required  by  Finland  for  her  economic  develop- 
ment and  demanding  the  construction  of  others  for 
strategic  purposes.  Her  object  is  to  secure  a  rapid 
communication,  firstly,  between  Petersburg  and 
Vasa  (where  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  is  narrowest),  and 
secondly,  between  Petersburg  and  Torne^  (on  the 
Swedish  frontier).  In  previous  wars  Russian 
armies  have  invaded  Sweden  via  Torned  and  Vasa. 

o 

A  third  line  of  advance  was  by  the  Aland  Islands,  in 
view  of  which  Russia's  attempt  a  few  years  ago  to 
cancel  the  clause  prohibiting  their  fortification  is 
perhaps  significant.  Other  Russian  actions  which 
are  to  be  taken  into  account  are  the  russianization 
of  the  Finnish  pilot  service,  the  steady  but  unob- 
trusive increase  of  the  Russian  military  forces  in 
Finland,  the  inducement  offered  to  Russian  officers 
to  learn  Swedish,  and  the  large  number  of  Russian 
spies  sent  to  North  Sweden. 

Sweden  is  well  aware  of  the  Russian  menace,  and 
as  Mr.  Whitford  shows,  has  entirely  reorganized 
her  system  of  defence  with  a  view  to  meeting  it, 
sftationing  more  and  more  troops  in  the  north  to 
oppose  a  possible  Russian  invasion  and  building  the 
powerful  fortress  of  Boden.  Many  Norwegians  are 
also  keenly  alive  to  the  danger.^ 

Russia  naturally  does  not  proclaim  her  designs 

^  Cf.  La  Revue  Scandinave,  March  1911.  Article  by  Captain 
Axel  Roekkebo. 


324  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

upon  the  housetops,  but  nevertheless  evidence  of 
them  sometimes  slips  out.  The  Novoje  Vremja  ex- 
pressed a  general  feeling  when,  on  January  2nd  o.s., 
1905,  it  wrote:  ^^ Russia  is  growing  and  spreading 
over  regions  of  boundless  extent.  If  she  is  to  ac- 
complish her  historical  mission,  it  is  essential  that 
she  should  secure  access  to  the  open  ocean,  which 
she  resembles  in  greatness. '^  Passing  from  the 
general  to  the  particular,  we  find  General  Kuro- 
patkin,  when  discussing  Eussian  frontier  policy  in 
his  book,  **The  Russo-Japanese  War''  (vol.  i,  pp. 
40-4),  declare,  with  regard  to  the  Swedish  frontier: 
*^The  southern  portion  quite  corresponds  to  our 
requirements,  but  the  northern  is  too  artificially 
drawn  and  is  disadvantageous  to  us,  as  it  cuts  Fin- 
land off  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  gives  all  the  coast 
to  Norway.*'  The  admission  is  rather  striking  from 
one  in  so  high  a  position,  though  it  need  not  be 
pressed  too  far.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not  weakened 
when  taken  in  conjunction  with  Russian  railway 
policy  in  Finland.  General  Kuropatkin  goes  on  to 
argue  that  ^4t  is  our  duty  to  smooth  the  way  as  much 
as  possible  for  the  early  unification  of  Finland  and 
Russia,  in  order  to  ensure  Russia's  safety  against 
an  attack  from  Sweden" — a  manifest  absurdity, 
which  suggests  that  the  real  motive  of  unification  is 
not  defence  but  aggression.  For  how  could  modern 
Sweden  dare  to  attack  Russia? 

Whether  the  acquisition  of  a  port  on  the  Atlantic 
is  or  is  not  the  main  object  of  Russia's  policy  in 
Finland,  the  theory  just  sketched  in  outline  is  one 
which  cannot  be  brushed  aside  as  merely  fantastic. 
If  it  is  true,  then  Finland,  in  resisting  russianiza- 


SECOND  PERIOD  OF  RUSSIANIZATION  325 

tion,  is  unconsciously  fighting  a  battle  on  behalf  of 
Scandinavian  independence  and  of  all  nations  inter- 
ested in  its  maintenance.  If  it  is  not  true,  Finland 
is  still  fighting  a  battle  for  freedom.  She  is  main- 
taining the  cause  of  constitutional  government  as 
against  autocracy,  of  law  as  against  anarchy,  of 
Western  civilization  as  against  Eastern  civilization, 
of  nationality  as  against  centralization  and  level- 
ling. She  is,  moreover,  fighting  on  the  side  of  those 
who  hope  that  Eussia  will  develop  on  constitutional 
lines,  and  the  Russian  Constitutionalists  are  her 
natural  allies  and  her  stoutest  champions.  She  has 
perhaps  been  a  little  slow  to  realize  this  and  to  co- 
operate with  them.  For  her  fate  seems  to  be  inex- 
tricably bound  up  with  Russia,  and  her  position  in 
the  Russian  Empire  of  the  future  may  well  depend 
on  the  degree  of  sympathy  she  succeeds  in  fostering 
in  the  mind  of  the  Russian  nation.  For  it  is  not 
the  Emperor,  but  the  Duma,  which  will  determine 
her  fate  in  coming  years,  and  even  a  representative 
Duma  might  as  a  whole  be  ignorant  and  prejudiced 
about  Finland.  Meanwhile,  more  than  on  Emperor 
or  Duma,  Finland's  future  seems  to  depend  on  her 
own  power  of  resistance.  Foreign  sympathy  is  of 
great  value  in  stimulating  her  resistance  and  heart- 
ening her  courage,  but  of  itself  it  can  do  little.  For 
Finland  it  is  a  question  of  holding  on  tenaciously 
until  better  days  dawn  in  Russia.  But  should  the 
unexpected  happen  and  the  present  Russian  regime 
desire  a  friendly  settlement  of  the  Finnish  question, 
the  question  would  speedily  cease  to  exist.  For  it 
is  really  an  artificial  question,  raised  by  Russia  as  a 
pretext  for  russianization. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

FINLAND  AND  THE  WAR 

WHEN  the  war  broke  out  in  the  summer  of 
1914,  the  sympathies  of  Finland  were  di- 
vided. The  inclination  of  the  mass  of  the  people 
was  towards  the  Allies.  In  spite  of  what  they  had 
suffered  from  Eussia  they  felt  instinctively  what 
some  of  the  better-educated  classes  failed  to  grasp 
— that  the  defeat  of  the  Allies  would  involve  the  de- 
feat of  democracy  and  the  cause  of  the  small  nations. 

It  might  seem  strange  that  Russia,  who  had  op- 
pressed many  small  nations,  should  be  drawing  the 
sword  on  behalf  of  Servia,  but,  in  some  mysterious 
way,  on  this  occasion  Russia  was  in  the  right. 

This  feeling  expressed  itself  in  various  ways.  The 
writer  was  in  Stockholm  when  the  war  broke  out, 
and  had  to  return  to  Finland  on  a  train  carrying 
some  800  Russians  who  had  escaped  from  Germany 
and  other  parts  of  the  Continent.  Many  of  these 
Russians  were  penniless  and  destitute,  but  all  alike 
were  treated  with  the  utmost  kindness  and  gen- 
erosity by  the  Finns  who  thronged  the  railway  sta- 
tions. There  was  no  suggestion  anywhere  of  the 
hostile  demonstration  which  many  of  the  travellers 
seemed  to  expect ;  old  wrongs  were  forgotten,  and  a 
new  spirit  of  brotherhood  seemed  to  be  taking  the 
place  of  the  old  suspicion.  This  change  of  attitude 
was  reflected  in  a  new  tone  which  became  noticeable 
in  several  Russian  papers  which  had  been  notori- 
ously anti-Finnish,  and  in  the  manifesto  issued  by 
the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  thanking  the  Finnish  rail- 
way men  for  the  efficient  help  rendered  by  them  at 

326 


FINLAND  AND  THE  WAR  327 

the  time  of  mobolisatioii.  It  seemed  that  the  war 
might  initiate  a  new  era  in  Eusso-Finnish  relations. 

There  was,  however,  a  minority  on  whom  the  im- 
mediate struggle  to  retain  their  vanishing  liberties 
pressed  so  hard,  that  they  failed  to  see  the  world- 
conflict  in  its  true  perspective.  For  these,  smarting 
as  they  were  with  their  wounds,  Russia  loomed  as 
a  sinister  power  which  could  not  by  any  possibility 
be  fighting  on  the  side  of  liberty.  Nor  was  there 
any  possible  defence  of  France  and  Britain,  who 
had  irretrievably  condemned  themselves  by  joining 
hands  with  the  Muscovite.  To  this  minority  it  was 
useless  to  point  out  that  the  whole  case  of  Finland 
against  Russia  was  based  on  the  sacredness  of  a 
^^ scrap  of  paper,"  and  that  to  take  sides  with  the 
power  which  openly  repudiated  treaties  and  the 
pledged  word  was  practically  to  justify  Russia  in 
her  aggression  upon  the  rights  of  Finland.  This 
party  counted  among  its  adherents,  also,  many 
whose  education  had  imbued  them  with  a  genuine 
love  or  admiration  for  Germany,  and  theorists  who 
contended  that  the  essence  of  the  world  struggle  was 
the  social  conflict  of  Teuton  and  Slav.  Britain,  in 
siding  against  Germany,  was  branded  as  a  traitor  to 
the  sacred  cause  of  Teutonism. 

The  Russian  Government  unfortunately  played 
into  the  hands  of  the  minority  in  Finland.  After  the 
too  brief  period  in  which  the  countries  seemed  to 
be  drawing  together,  the  reactionaries  at  Petrograd 
succeeded  in  frightening  the  Government  into  a  re- 
sumption of  the  policy  of  russianization,  on  the  plea 
that  Finland  was  disloyal  and  could  only  be  held 
down  by  force.  Up  to  this  time,  the  disloyalists  in 
Finland  were  a  negligible  quantity,  but  the  natural 


328  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

result  of  this  change  of  policy  was  to  make  many 
people  in  Finland  say,  **If  this  is  what  we  get  from 
Russia  for  showing  our  loyalty,  have  we  not  more 
to  gain  from  a  German  victory  f  Indeed,  the  ques- 
tion suggests  itself  whether  the  change  of  policy 
may  not  have  been  the  result  of  German  intrigue. 
A  disloyal  Finland  would  embarrass  Russia,  and 
the  policy  adopted  and  carried  out  by  the  Governor- 
General,  himself  of  German  origin,  was  exactly  cal- 
culated to  exploit  any  disloyalty  there  might  be  in 
the  country.  This,  however,  is  matter  for  specula- 
tion. What  is  certain  is  that  German  agents  were 
profuse  in  their  promises  to  the  Finns,  if  only  these 
would  revolt  from  Russia.  With  a  fine  inconsist- 
ency, German  agents  in  Finland  were  promising  to 
make  Finland  an  independent  republic,  while  others 
in  Sweden  were  offering  to  restore  the  Grand  Duchy 
to  the  Swedish  Crown! 

The  net  result  of  German  intrigue  and  Russian 
mistakes  was  to  cool  the  sympathy  of  the  mass  of  the 
people  for  the  Allies,  and  to  make  Finland,  in  feeling, 
a  neutral  country.  It  was  common  to  hear  the  hope 
expressed  that  Britain  and  France  might  be  victori- 
ous on  the  west,  and  Russia  suffer  defeat  on  the  east.^ 

No  attempt  will  be  made  in  these  pages  to  lift 
the  veil  which  has  shrouded  events  in  Finland  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  war.  Nor  is  it  profitable 
to  attempt  any  detailed  mapping-out  of  the  future. 
In  times  of  uncertainty,  judgment  must  be  based  on, 

^  The  feeling  of  neutrality  was  strengthened  by  the  fact  that 
the  Finns  do  not  serve  in  the  Russian  army.  The  application 
of  the  Russian  system  to  Finland  was  several  times  mooted, 
but  has  never  been  carried  out,  chiefly  from  a  fear  of  the  pos- 
sible consequences.  Finns  are  fighting  both  in  the  Russian  and 
German  armies  as  volunteers. 


FINLAND  AND  THE  WAR  329 

and  action  guided  by,  broad  principle.  Broadly 
speaking,  the  future  of  Finland  depends  on  whether 
the  rights  of  the  smaller  nations  are  or  are  not 
going  to  be  respected.  In  the  event  of  a  victory  for 
the  Central  Powers,  those  rights  would  be  trampled 
under  foot  as  ruthlessly  as  were  the  rights  of  Bel- 
gium. The  only  hope  of  the  smaller  nations  rests 
in  an  Allied  victory.  But  even  in  the  event  of  an 
Allied  victory,  there  are  certain  small  nations  which 
may  be  pardoned  if  they  view  the  future  with  con- 
siderable anxiety.    Of  these  the  Finns  are  one. 

The  future  of  their  country  depends  on  what  hap- 
pens in  Russia,  on  whether  liberal  or  bureaucratic 
tendencies  prevail  there.  The  Finnish  patriot  in- 
evitably asks  himself, '  ^  Is  there  any  prospect  of  Rus- 
sia becoming  more  liberal  as  a  result  of  the  warT' 
Let  us  glance  at  the  nature  of  the  prospect. 

Among  the  forces  making  for  liberalism  are  these. 
The  war  is  taking  the  Russian  peasant  out  of  his 
narrow  village  life  and  showing  him  his  own  coun- 
try and  other  countries.  His  mind  is  expanding,  he 
is  asking  questions  he  has  never  asked  before.  He  is 
comparing  the  conditions  of  life  in  Russia  with  the 
conditions  of  life  in  other  lands.  It  was  men  who  had 
fought  in  the  Napoleonic  wars  who  sowed  the  seeds 
of  liberalism  which  were  to  result  in  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  Serfs  fifty  years  later,  and  no  less  a 
revolution  may  result  from  the  impregnating  of  the 
Russian  mind  to-day  with  ideas  current  in  Western 
Europe.  The  close  association  of  Russia  with 
France  and  Britain  strengthens  the  same  tendency. 
The  Russian  may  not  be  easily  coerced,  but  he  can 
easily  be  won  if  his  heart  and  imagination  are 
touched.    It  was  a  British  Prime  Minister  who  won 


330  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

Eussian  confidence  by  his  gallant  words  at  a  critical 
time — **La  Douma  est  morte.  Vive  la  Douma!"  A 
similar  spirit  in  France  and  Britain  may  achieve 
similar  results  to-day.  Eussia  has  no  desire  to  ap- 
pear illiberal  in  the  eyes  of  her  Allies. 

The  war  has  advanced  the  cause  of  progress  in 
other  ways  also.  The  prohibition  of  the  sale  of 
Vodka  has  been  accompanied  by  a  great  increase  of 
prosperity  and  of  self-respect.  The  savings  of 
peasants  have  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and 
therewith  the  feeling  that  they  have  a  stake  in  the 
country.  By  cutting  off  supplies  from  the  outer 
world,  the  war  has  given  a  tremendous  stimulus  to 
industry  and  to  industrial  organisation.  This,  as  in 
other  countries,  is  accompanied  by  a  greater  feeling 
of  independence  among  the  working  classes.  The 
political  sense  of  the  people  has  been  developed  by 
having  to  face  great  issues,  and  the  power  of  organi- 
sation has  been  increased  by  the  war-work  which, 
in  spite  of  the  jealousy  of  the  central  government, 
has  had  to  be  entrusted  to  the  Zemstvos.  The  army 
can  no  longer  be  officered  exclusively  by  the  aristoc- 
racy, and  new  men  who  have  come  to  the  front  and 
tasted  responsibility  will  not  be  denied  their  right 
to  a  share  in  the  life  of  the  nation  after  the  war. 

Last  among  the  forces  making  for  liberalism  is  the 
fact  that  Eussia  is  fighting  Germany.  The  conflict 
is  not  merely  the  external  one  that  is  being  fought 
out  on  the  plains  of  Central  Europe — it  is  also  an 
internal  conflict,  which  is  being  fought  out  in  Eus- 
sia itself.  This  is  easily  realised  by  anyone  who 
is  able  to  estimate  at  their  true  value  the  many 
changes  in  the  Government  machine  during  the  war, 
the  many  swingings  of  the  pendulum  towards  and 


FINLAND  AND  THE  WAR  331 

away  from  the  Central  Powers.  It  is  not  always 
realised  how  deeply  Germany  has  set  her  seal  on 
Eussian  life,  nor  how  much  the  ordinary  Russian 
resents  it,  and  wishes  to  emancipate  himself  from 
it,  nor  how  difficult  it  is  for  him  to  do  so.  Prussia 
and  Russia  have  been  linked  by  many  ties.  The  two 
aristocracies  spring  largely  from  the  same  barren 
countryside  on  the  fringe  of  the  Baltic,  and  have 
been  inspired  by  similar  ideas.  Since  the  partition 
of  Poland,  they  have  had  a  common  interest  in  re- 
taining the  stolen  property.  The  Kaiser  has  been  a 
bitter  foe  of  the  Russian  Duma,  and  has  encouraged 
every  attempt  to  suppress  it,  realising  that  the 
establishment  of  Constitutional  Government  in  Rus- 
sia would  imperil  his  own  position  at  Berlin.  Rus- 
sia has  always  resented  these  German  influences 
which  have  strangled  her  own  attempts  at  self -ex- 
pansion, but  she  has  never  been  able  to  throw  them 
off.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  if,  as  a  result  of  the 
war,  she  succeeds  in  doing  so,  a  great  obstacle  to 
progress  will  have  been  removed. 

The  signs  are  propitious.  Sickened  by  the 
intrigues  of  pro-Germans  in  high  places,  whose 
policy  threatened  to  disgrace  Russia  and  to  drag 
her  into  a  dishonourable  and  feeble  peace,  the  peo- 
ple, with  instincts  nobler  than  their  rulers,  have  in 
these  days  taken  the  matter  into  their  own  hands. 
What  the  outcome  of  the  March  revolution  may  be, 
whether  it  will  be  guided  throughout  by  the  wisdom 
which  has  marked  its  early  stages,  it  is  impossible  to 
say.  We  welcome  its  dawn,  and  our  hearts  respond 
to  this  spontaneous  outburst  of  a  great  nation's 
indignation  and  hope.  We  know  equally  well  that 
the  path  to  be  travelled  cannot  be  an  easy  one.   Rus- 


332  FINLAND  AND  THE  FINNS 

sia  was  not  born  for  easy  victories.  The  task  of 
readjustment  is  a  gigantic  one.  It  may  be  decades 
before  the  great  problems  of  home  and  of  imperial 
reform  are  worked  out  to  a  conclusion. 

Meanwhile,  as  regards  that  particular  portion  of 
the  Eussian  Empire  with  which  this  book  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  clear  that  if  the  principles  for  which  the 
Allies  claim  to  be  fighting  are  to  be  carried  out,  Fin- 
land must  receive  other  treatment  than  she  was  re- 
ceiving before  the  war.  It  by  no  means  follows, 
however,  as  some  Finns  seem  still  to  imagine,  that 
the  clock  can  be  put  back  20  years,  and  all  be  as  in 
the  days  before  the  russianisation  policy  was  ever 
started.  The  Finnish  problem  must  be  considered 
henceforward  as  part  of  the  general  Russian  im- 
perial problem.  This  problem,  in  its  vastness  and 
complexity,  is  comparable  only  to  the  imperial  prob- 
lem which  will  confront  the  British  Empire  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  cannot  be  discussed  here.^ 

It  must  suffice  to  say  that  the  Finns  will  have  to 
abandon  the  too  rigid  nationalism  into  which  they 
drifted,  partly  through  a  little  people's  fear  of 
absorption,  and  partly  through  Eussian  aggressive- 
ness, and  learn  to  think  of  themselves  as  part  of  a 
great  whole.  It  would  be  folly  to  predict  a  golden 
path  for  Finland,  and  the  period  of  readjustment 
cannot  be  viewed  without  anxiety.  But  the  path  of 
exclusiveness  will  not  be  the  path  of  safety.  That 
lies,  rather  in  a  closer  understanding  with  the  men 
who  stand  for  progress  in  Eussia,  and  who  have 
over  and  over  again  had  the  courage  to  stand  up 
for  Finland  in  the  past. 

^  Some  reflections  on  this  problem  as  it  affects  Finland  may 
be  found  in  an  article  by  the  author  published  in  the  Political 
Quarterly  for  April,  1915. 


INDEX 


^alberg,  Ida,  176 

"">o,  5,  13,  16,  233,  300 
Ackte,  Aino,  176,  187 
Act  of  Assurance,  276 
Adlercreutz,  3 
Agrarian  Party,  213 
Agricola,  Michael,  24 
Agricultural  Experiments,  Insti- 
tute for,  95 
Agricultural  Report,  96 

Labourers.  98-100,  243 

Schools,  199 
Agriculture,  92-96 
Ahlqvist,  Professor,  144 
Aho,  Juhani,  155-166 
Aino,  124,  126,  136,  180 
Aland,  3,  11,  321 
Alexander  I,  3,   16,  17,  57,  274, 

286,  287,  291. 
Alexander  II,  18,  288,  291. 
Alexander  III,  19,  292. 
Allies,  Sympathy  with,  326,  328 
Annikki,  138 
Army,  Organization  Bill,  289 

Finnish,  292,  304 
Arvidsson,  27 

B 

Baltic  Provinces,  290 

Bath,  Finnish,  88,  89,  137,  138 

Bear-hunting,  106 

Bee-keeping,  94 

Bernadotte,  4 

Birds,  107 

Birger  Jarl,  13 

Bjorneborg  mausoleum,  179 

Bobrikoff,  General,  20,  242,  292- 

306,  315 
"Book  of  Our  Land,"  168 
Borga,  40,  275 
Buxhoevden,  General,  2,  274 


Canth,  Minna,  249-252 
Castren,  M.,  9 


Catherine,  Empress,  273 
Cattle-rearing,  94,  96 
"Chips"  (Spanor),  158 
Church,  14,  113,  188 

Festivals,  115 
Churches,  113 
Clubs,  Young  People's,  199 
Collan,  Karl,  185 
Colleges,  Training,  189,  190 
Communes,  208 
Constitution,  Finnish,  17-21,  206- 

7,  273-282,  287,  308 
Constitutional  Government,  331 
Constitutional  Party,  63,  306 
Co-operation,  244 
Copper  mines,  233 
Council  of  Ministers  (Russian), 

308-310 
Court  of  Appeals,  14,  299,  314, 

315 
Cygnaeus,  Fredrik,  39 
Cygnaeus,  Uno,  30 


D 


Dairy  industry,  234 
Danielson,  Professor,  291 
Diet,  17,  21,  57,  59,  206,  287,  288, 
293,  309,  310,  311-313,  316 
of  Borga,  274-275 
Divorce,  266-267 
Dobeln,  General  von,  42,  177 
Dostoyevsky,  Fidor  M.,  76 
Duma,  306,  312,  313,  330,  331 


Edelfelt,  Albert,  174-178 
Education,  29-30,  188-228 
Ehrstrom,  E.  G.,  27 
Elizabeth,  Empress,  273 
"Elk  Hunters,"  38 
Enckell,  182 
Engel,  C.  L.,  66 
"Ensign  Stal's  Tales,"  41,  176 
Eric,  King,  12 


334 


INDEX 


Faltin,  Richard,  185 

Farms,  80-5,  86-92 

Faven.  182 

Feminist  movement,  253-264 

Finch,  182 

Finland  and  the  War,  326-332 

Finnish   Literature    Society,   30- 

31,  54 
Finnish  Party,  212 
Fisher,  J.  R.  62,  281 
Fishing,  107 
Folk-song,  168,  183 
Franzen,  167 
Fredrikshamn,  Treaty  of,  8,  275, 

277,  308 
Friberg,  Dr.  Maikki,  258 


Gallen,  Axel,  177 

Gamla  Karleby,  47 

General  Strike,  21,  209,  242,  255 

Gottlund,  31 

Governor-General,  206,  217,  301- 

2,  328 
Gripenberg,  Bertel,  172 
Grot,  Professor,  40 
Gulf  Stream,  8 
Gustavus  III,  18 
Gustavus  IV,  2 

H 

Hango,  5 

Hangoudd,  2 

"Hanna,"  38 

Helsingfors,  5,  7,  16,  65-82 

Lyceum,  30 
Helsingfors  Tidningar,  168 
Henry,  Bishop,  12 
Hermanson,  Professor,  291 
Hirn,  Professor  Yrjo,  205 
Hjelt,  Professor,  196 
Hjelt  Vera,  239 


Ilmarinen,  125,  129,  136,  138 
Imatra,  220 

Imperial  Rescript,  57,  58 
Industrial  legislation,  237-239 
Industrial  organisation,  330 


Industries — 

Bobbins,  227 

Dairy,  234 

Paper,  227-230 

Stone,  231-232 

Textiles,  233 

Timber,  219-227 
International  Lawyers'  Declara- 
tion, 281-282,  319 
Intrigues,  German,  328,  331 


Japan,  War  with,  306,  322 
Jarnefelt,  Armas,  185 

Eero,  181 
Joukahainen,  125,  126 

K 

KaigorodofiF,  General,  299 

Kaiser,  331 

Kajana,  31 

Kajanus,  Robert,  185 

"Kalevala,"  31,  122-137,  178,  183 

"Kanteletaar,"-35 

KareHans,  10,  12,  32 

"King  Fialar,"  41,  44 

Kivi,  Alexis,  39,  143-152 

Kiyinebb,  317 

Klingspor,  2 

Knutsson,  Torgils,  13-14 

Kullervo,  125,  140,  178 

Kulneff,  42 

Kuopio,  50 

Kuropatkin,  General,  324 


Ladoga,  Lake,  8,  144,  283 

Land,  Cultivation  of,  92,  93,  95 
Tenure  of,  96,  97 

Landtdag,  see  Diet 

Landtman,  Dr.  G.,  110 

Language  struggle,  59,  60,  61  76 

Laran  om  Staten,  48 

Legislation — 
Bakeries'  Law,  238 
Factory,  269 

re  Finnish  citizenship,  313-314 
re  Illegitimate  children,  267 
Industrial,  237,  238,  239 
Project  for  Imperial,  311 


INDEX 


335 


Workmen's  Compensation  Act, 

238 
Lemminkainen,  125,  127,  130,  131, 

136 
Litteraturblad,  56 
Local  government,  207-208,  264 
Lonnqvist,  Charlotte,  143 
Lonnrot,    Elias,   31-36,   41,    123, 

184 
Louhi,  125 
Lybeck,  M,  172 


M 


Maamiehen  Ystdvd,  SO 

Magnus  Eriksen,  14 

Maiden  of  Pohjola,  124 

Manifesto  of  February,  1899,  20, 
255.  293 
Borga  (1809),  277 
Language,  292,  295,  300 
Peace,  292 

Marriage  customs,  117-121 

Martha  Society,  270-272 

Mechelin,  Leo,  291,  306,  309 

Midsummer  Eve,  114 

Miliutin,  General  289 

Music,  75,  183-187 

Musical  Society,  185 


N 


"Nadescha,"  41 

Nations,  Rights  of  Smaller,  329 

Napoleon,  1 

New  Era,  327 

Newspapers,  211,  212,  247 

Nicholas  I,  285,  287 

Nicholas  II,  291 

Nicholas,  Grand  Duke,  326 

Novel,  Finnish,  153-155 

"Nuumisuutarit,"  143 

Nykyrka,  316 

Nyland,  13 

Nystad,  Peace  of,  25 


Oihonna,  45,  46 
Old  Finns,  212 
Orivais,  3 
Ossian,  45 
"Outlawed,"    161-165 


"Paavo,"  102 
Pacius,  Frederic,  185 
Paivarinta,  Pietari,   152 
Palmgren,  Selim,  185 
Paper  industry,  227-230 
"Parson's  Daughter,  The"  156 
Parties,   Political,   206-218,   296- 

298 
Pellervo,  244 
Per  Brahe,  24 
Perttunnen,  Arhippa,  Zi 
"Pioneers"  158 
Plehve,   von,   298 
Poland,  17,  289,  331 
Port  Arthur,  322 
Porthan,   Henrik,  26  ^ 
Post  Office,   Prussianization  of, 

291 
Poultry,  94 

Procope,   Hjalmar,   172 
Proportional  Representation,  59, 

215 
Purishkevitch,  312 


"Railway,  The"  155 
Railways,  Finnish,  323,  326 
Religion,  79 

of  Ancient  Finns,  139 
Rent,  68 

Revolution,  March,  1917,  331 
Rights  of  Smaller  Nations,  329 
Riksdag,  16-17 

Runeberg,    J.    L.,   4,    30,   37-46, 
102,  167-168 

Fredrika,  28,  Z7 
Russian  liberalism,  329-331 


Saima,  6,  225 
Samoyedes,   9 
Sampo,  125,  178 
Saturday  Qub,  27-28,  47,  168 
Saw-mills,    225-226 
Schauman,  Eugen,  305 
Schools,     Elementary,     189-190, 
192 

Mixed,  193-195,  254 

Normal,  193 


336 


INDEX 


People's  High,   198,  202 

Private,  193 

Secondary,    192 

Technical  High,  200 
"Scrap  of  paper,"  327 
Seal-hunting,    108 
Senate,    18,    195,    206,    295-297, 

308-309 
"Seven  Brothers,  The,"  39,  144- 

152 
SibeHus,  Jean,  186 
Snellman,  J.   V.,   30,  41,  47-57. 

168.  212 
Socialism,  21,  210,  211.  241.  245- 

248 
Soderhj  elm.  Professor,  154,  166, 

169 
Song,  Choral,  187 
Speranski.  18 
Sport,  203 

Sprengporten,  Governor,  274 
"Squire  Hellman,"  156 
Stead,  W.  T.,  298 
Steinheil,  Count,  286 
Stenback.  172 
Stenvall,  see  Kivi 
Stolypin,  P.,  306-308 
Student   Corporations,    196,    199 
Suffrage,  209 

Women's,  253-258 

Women's,  Opinions  on,  259-264 
Sveaborg  Fortress  of,  3,  76 
Sven  Hedin,  Dr.,  320 


"Tales  of  a  Surgeon,"  170 
Tar-burning,  109 
Tavastland,   13 
Tavasts,  10,  12 
Tegner,  39 
Tengstrom,  Robert,  55 

Fredrika,   Z7 
Theatre,  75 


Thirty  Years'  War,  25 
Thome,  182 
Timber  trade,  219-227 
"To  Helsingfors,"  157 
Topelius,   Zacharias,   167-172 
Torpare,  98,  99 
Trades  Law,  310 
Tuonela,   126 

U 

Uleaborg,  2,  3 

University,  14,  24,  25,  27,  59,  65, 
66,  195-198,  202,  203 


Valio,  245 

Viborg,  14,  16,  286,  314,  315 

Vodka,  Prohibition  of,  330 

W 

Wainamoinen,  124,  128,  130,  136, 

139 
Wasenius,  Walfred,  45 
Wechsell,  172 
Wegelius,  Martin,  185 
Westerholm.    182 
Westermarck.  Professor,  205 
Whitford,  v.,  320-322 
Wilhelm  n,  331 
Witte,  Count.  307 
Women,  21,  80-82,  197,  249-272 

Property  rights  of,  265 
Wrede,  Matilda,  182 


Young  Finns,  63,  213 

Z 

Zakrevsky,  Count,  286 
Zemstvos,  330 
Zilliacus,  Konni,  320 


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